There is no need for panic and with coordinated EU actions, the coronavirus outbreak will be addressed, Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said on Thursday as he voiced Cyprus’ support for the conclusions of the extraordinary Council of Ministers of Health on the issue.
“We welcome the initiative to convene an extraordinary Council of EU Health Ministers to assess the situation with the coronavirus, exchange views and take better coordination measures to respond more effectively to the epidemic,” he said.
“We fully welcome and agree with the conclusions of the Council, and in particular with the need to strengthen cooperation and coordination between Member States, the Commission and the World Health Organization,” the Health Minister noted.
“We are very pleased to have been informed that support mechanisms have been activated to help coordinate work to address the epidemic more effectively,” he stated.
“In the conclusions, the actions proposed are for better coordination in the protection of public health and within the context of WHO recommendations,” he noted.
“As Cyprus I was pleased to say that we have been following the most rigorous WHO protocols for two weeks and in some cases have adopted additional actions not provided for in the protocols and have also received positive feedback from our colleagues.”
“In general, the impression is that there should be no panic, but with concerted actions and activation of EU mechanisms this epidemic can be tackled,” Minister Ioannou concluded.
(Cyprus News Agency)
