Category: EU News

“Code white” has previously been activated during flu pandemics and terrorist attacks. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was first activated in March 2020….reports Asian Lite News

 The Regional Health Agency of Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur has activated the “code white” alert in all hospitals in southern France, news television BFMTV has reported.

Enshrined in French law in 2004, the “code white” alert entails organisational measures such as mobilising backup personnel and prioritising operations for coronavirus patients for hospitals in case of a serious sanitary situation or overcrowding, Xinhua news agency reported.

“The dynamics of this outbreak are now significantly impacting hospitals in the territory,” the agency said in a press release.

“New admissions, due to Covid, have seen a very sustained increase for more than two weeks, both in critical care services and in conventional medicine,” it said.

“Our department has just crossed the incidence rate threshold of 600 cases per 100,000 population. The impact of these new contaminations is now very significant on hospitalisations and on intensive care units,” the Public Hospital of Marseille said on Tuesday.

On Monday, hospitals in Marseille reported 140 hospitalised patients, 36 of them in intensive care.

The country’s other regional health agencies have also activated “code white” in the hospitals of Lille, Lyon, Strasbourg and Saint-Brieuc.

“Code white” has previously been activated during flu pandemics and terrorist attacks. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was first activated in March 2020.

France’s “code white” measures include increasing the number of reanimation beds; transferring patients to less crowded hospitals; reinforcing communication processes; installing a crisis unit; mobilising backup personnel; and prioritising operations for coronavirus patients.

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It noted that the most difficult situation has developed on the border with Lithuania, as there are 2,260 trucks in the queue….reports Asian Lite News

The State Border Committee of Belarus said that the number of trucks at the country’s border waiting to enter the European Union (EU) has increased by 20 per cent over the weekend and reached 4,840.

According to the Committee, the number of the trucks has increased due to the fact that the European control services did not fulfil the agreements on the passage of transport, reports Xinhua news agency.

It noted that the most difficult situation has developed on the border with Lithuania, as there are 2,260 trucks in the queue.

The capacity of the functioning border crossings with Poland is only 70 per cent of the agreed amount of transport, which is due to the closure of the border crossing “Kuznitsa Bialystokskaya” by Poland.

“Kuznitsa Bialystokskaya” is connected with the “Bruzgi” checkpoint, where the refugees have gathered.

At least 1,470 trucks are waiting in line to enter Poland.

The remaining 1,110 trucks lined up to enter Latvia.

There were no delays in the passage of trucks in this direction.

However, due to the closure of other border crossings, some trucks were headed in that direction and got stuck in a queue at the border.

Due to the ongoing migration crisis at the borders of Belarus with EU countries, the capacity of border crossings of freight transport has been limited, and trucks often queue at border checkpoints for several days.

Since August, thousands of migrants, most of them from war-torn countries in the Middle East, have been stranded at the border between Belarus and its neighbours, seeking to enter the EU territory.

However, more migrants arrived at the Belarusian side of the border with Poland in November.

Clashes broke out last month between Polish soldiers using water cannons and migrants throwing stones.

Similar tensions also occurred on Belarus’s borders with Latvia and Lithuania.

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ECB expects to select new euro banknote designs by 2024. …reports Asian Lite News

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it will start to redesign euro banknotes as cash remains an important mode of payment for consumers in the region.

In a statement on Monday, the central bank said that it has appointed an advisory group to submit a list of new themes to the ECB’s Governing Council, based on opinions from people across the euro area, reports Xinhua news agency.

ECB expects to select new euro banknote designs by 2024.

“Euro banknotes are here to stay. They are a tangible and visible symbol that we stand together in Europe, particularly in times of crisis, and there is still a strong demand for them,” said ECB President Christine Lagarde.

“After 20 years, it’s time to review the look of our banknotes to make them more relatable to Europeans of all ages and backgrounds,” she added.

A study released by the ECB in December last year showed that consumers predominantly used cash for POS and P2P payments. The volume of POS and P2P transactions conducted in cash accounted for 73 per cent of the total.

Over half of the respondents of a survey as part of the study considered it important for them to have the option to pay with cash in the future.

The study was conducted in 2019 to find out the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area.

Despite the increase in cashless payments during the pandemic, the demand for cash has risen owing to cash’s crucial role as a store of value, according to the ECB.

Meanwhile, the central bank is investigating what a digital euro may look like.

The ECB announced in July that it would launch a digital euro project to weigh the possibility of issuing a digital euro.

Initiated in October, the investigation is expected to last for about two years.

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“We have the vaccines, the life-saving vaccines, but they are not being used adequately everywhere,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen…reports Asian Lite News

The European Union (EU) should start a discussion on whether mandatory vaccinations are needed in the fight against the ongoing surge in Covid-19 cases, especially since a third of the EU population had not yet taken the jab, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels.

Acknowledging that such a decision was “pure member state competence,” she noted that around 150 million people in the EU had not taken the jab.

“I think it is understandable and appropriate to lead this discussion now — how we can encourage and potentially think about mandatory vaccination within the EU,” she added on Wednesday during a news conference.

“We have the vaccines, the life-saving vaccines, but they are not being used adequately everywhere,” she said.

Von der Leyen added that the EU’s main Covid-19 vaccine provider, BioNTech or Pfizer, would have shots available for children in the bloc in two weeks, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Commission President said there was not enough information on the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, which the World Health Organization said poses a high risk.

“We do not know all about this variant but know enough to be concerned,” she added.

“We know from our experience with the Delta variant that it is a race against time. Till we know more, in two to three weeks, we need to take action. Our best scientists are working day and night. What science tells us already is that full vaccination and boosters give protection against the virus.”

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