COVID: Speranza calls for 'urgent EU measures on external arrivals' after Bangladeshi cases

Health Minister Roberto Speranza called for "rigorous precautionary measures for arrivals from extra-Schengen and extra-EU areas" to be set together in a letter sent to European Health and Food Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides and German Health Minister Jens Spahn.
    Greater Coordination.
    In this situation "I would ask the Commission and the presidency to promote greater coordination between member States and, in this way, guarantee greater effectiveness in achieving the aim of containing the spread of contagions caused by outbreaks (of COVID-19) of external origin".
    Outbreaks from Third Countries.
    "Albeit in a epidemiological situation that is positive on the whole, in the last two weeks hotspots of COVID-19 contagion have broken out, often caused by people coming from third countries," the minister wrote.
    Arrivals from Bangladesh.
    A charter flight arrived from Dhaka on Tuesday with 274 passengers on board and they were subjected to recently adopted control measures.
    High Percentage of Infections.
    Thanks to this, a high percentage of infections was detected (36 positive swabs at the moment out of 274 passengers, while the results of another 160 have not yet arrived).
    "On the basis of these results, I decided with Foreign Minister (Luigi) Di Maio to suspend flights from Bangladesh for one week," the minister concluded referring to "recent events in Italy".
    Bangladeshi Community.
    In the meantime, the ASL Roma 2 health authority and the Anti-COVID Crisis Unit met representatives of Rome's Bangladeshi community to inform them about the situation and reassure them.
    It was an opportunity to give precise recommendations that can be translated into Bengali and disseminated via social media and the community's internal channels.
    Tests.
    The Lazio regional government has asked everyone who has entered Italy from Bangladesh since June 1, or who has had contact with people who returned from the country, to go and have the coronavirus test. (ANSA).