BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s healthcare system are at risk of being overwhelmed by the number of coronavirus cases unless authorities act quickly, the head of the Eurpean Commission Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference ion Thursday.
“The spread of the virus will overwhelm our healthcare systems if we do not act urgently,” she said after a video conference of EU leaders to coordinate the EU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said the Commission made available 220 million euros to finance cross-border transfer of COVID-19 patients across EU countries to avoid healthcare systems in the most affected countries not being able to cope.
She also said the EU would work for the quick validation, at EU level, of rapid antigen tests.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio, Robin Emmott and Jan Strupczewski)
