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EU Medicine

European Union Will Close External Borders For 30 Days To Slow Coronavirus Pandemic (cnbc.com) 87

Posted by BeauHD from the safety-first dept.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Tuesday that European Union member nations will close EU's external borders for 30 days to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. CNBC reports: Movement of people within European Union member nations will be still be allowed under the restrictions. "The union and its member states will do whatever it takes," said European Council President Charles Michel. Michel said the EU will arrange for the repatriation of citizens of member countries. Breaking...
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European Union Will Close External Borders For 30 Days To Slow Coronavirus Pandemic More

European Union Will Close External Borders For 30 Days To Slow Coronavirus Pandemic

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  • This can also mean that.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Quakeulf ( 2650167 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @02:46PM (#59841566)
    The virus is free to spread inside the EU.
    • Perhaps it will help the other countries not to get infected from the EU.
    • Yes, but governments can control their citizens easier than they can control outsiders.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        Well, not in this case. In this case they have set a precedent for forceful shut down of borders. This precedent which has significant impact on their societies allows them to use it as a precedent to say, forcefully shut down third world country borders and by forcefully I do mean, shoot trespassers, shoot down planes and sink boats or ships.

        I consider the border shut down to be way over the top but it aligns with the third world getting the worst variant once the military of first world countries forcefu

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by zdzichu ( 100333 )

      This is funny, yet half of European countries closed internal borders already.

  • Announcment (Score:3)

    by JBMcB ( 73720 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @02:52PM (#59841590)

    Why is this coming from Angela Merkel and not from Leyen, Michel or Sassoli?

    • There's a joke in here about Germans and third attempts.

    • Why is this coming from Angela Merkel and not from Leyen, Michel or Sassoli?

      Perhaps because Merkel has pushed so hard for open borders and mass immigration?

      Being the one to make the announcement might serve either or both of two purposes:
      1. Let the people know closing the borders now must be really important if Merkel is for it.
      2. Give Merkel a chance to head off the mobs of voters about to throw her out over the issue - or perhaps literal mobs with literal torches and pitchforks.

    • It's standard operating procedure among politicians that they announce good news, but leave it to underlings to announce bad news. There's an irrational tendency for people to associate news with the messenger. Politicians know this, so they try to make sure good news is associated with them, bad news with someone else.

      • It's standard operating procedure among politicians that they announce good news, but leave it to underlings to announce bad news.

        Not sure if you're trying to be funny, sarcastic, or just ignorant. The announcement was by Leyen, it just so happens CNBC chose to cover the press briefing in Berlin given to the German nation. It's the EC decision initially announced by the EC at the time it was taken by the EC president.

    • Why is this coming from Angela Merkel and not from Leyen, Michel or Sassoli?

      Because your're reading a news column written about a press briefing in Berlin given to the German nation.

      If you read an article about a televised address in the French language to France you may see https://www.politico.eu/articl... [politico.eu] Macron talking.

      If you want to hear what Leyen said, then read an article about the EC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world... [bbc.com] the one that says "Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would ask leaders to implement the measures on Tuesday."

    • The EU is just the sock puppet for Germany...

  • Good luck and all, but... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    ...the science doesn't indicate this will work well for them. It might actually be better for the rest of the world, but any country with brains is already restricting travelers from Europe anyway. Everything I've seen seems to indicate that "social distance early, social distance often" works better than "shut down the borders". The two strategies can work well in concert, but once you've got community transmission, shutting down the borders is locking the barn door after the horse has bolted.

  • Now? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by gumpish ( 682245 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @02:57PM (#59841616) Journal

    Why did every government in the world wait until the virus had spread to their country before closing their borders / requiring quarantine for arrivals? Were they afraid that restricting travel would hurt their economy? Do they think that was a good decision in hindsight?

    • Re:Now? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by rldp ( 6381096 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @03:13PM (#59841694)

      Sure it's money, but it's also preserving "the narrative".

      Globalism is their religion.

      They are finding out their god is false and it is a hard pill to swallow.

      The look on some of these pols faces as they announce these measures tells it.

      They've doomed thousands for their public image, just like Xinnie the Pooh did in China.

      • Not globalism per se. (Score:4, Insightful)

        by BAReFO0t ( 6240524 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @06:10PM (#59842320)

        But globalism in the same way as Napoleon or Hitler. As in: Everybody dancing by THEIR rules.

        Which makes it hilarious, whenever they call out e.g. Brexiters for being Nazis.
        I have no doubt that they are Nazis who want everyone to goose-step by their rules. And the Brexiters are too. :P

        I'm a global multiculturalist. I say everybody (like every country) can do whatever he fucking likes, as long as he leaves others alone.
        And cooperation is good. Forced cooperation isn't. That's dictatorship.

        So I'm against globalism and the EU for precisely the same reason that I am against the Nazis getting back in power, or against the current Chinese leadership, for example.

    • There was one country that started restricting flights from China very early on, what country was that then?
    • They all think it wonâ(TM)t get that bad, so they never take preemptive steps. The truth is: the borders are closing generally only after the private sector has essentially shut them down anyway. When airline passengers drop 95% to 99% itâ(TM)s just a token effort now to declare the borders closed.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      The WHO had demands on the use of words like wuflu.
      Stopping the spread of words like wuflu was what the UN was interested in.
      Not actual healthcare per nation.

      • The WHO had demands on the use of words like wuflu.
        Stopping the spread of words like wuflu was what the UN was interested in.
        Not actual healthcare per nation.

        I'm sure the WHO and UN have plenty of bureaucrats. Easily enough to try both.

    • Political Correctness.
      It is killing the west.

    • Do they think that was a good decision in hindsight?

      The odds of actually preventing a virus like this from entering a country are close to zero even with strict border controls. It's 2020, the world can't really isolate itself and maybe North Korea are the only country who don't get infected (though we'd not know if they were).

      The reality is that this announcement right now is in line with the general policy of social distancing. I.e. don't pack people densely with other people in a small metal tube for hours on end. It's also in line with an attempt to prev

      • The odds of actually preventing a virus like this from entering a country are close to zero even with strict border controls.

        The goal is to slow it down.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by khchung ( 462899 )

      Why did every government in the world wait until the virus had spread to their country before closing their borders / requiring quarantine for arrivals? Were they afraid that restricting travel would hurt their economy? Do they think that was a good decision in hindsight?

      Closing their borders - will have little effect unless you also prevent your own citizens from coming home (which is a violation of human rights), since most incoming infections were carried by returning citizens rather than foreign travellers.

      Requiring quarantine for arrivals - yeah, governments were stupid not to implement that earlier. 14 days quarantine works and helps a lot to prevent the virus from spreading. Managing the quarantine is tricky though, as there are loads of selfish people who would sn

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by znrt ( 2424692 )

      Why did every government in the world wait until the virus had spread to their country before closing their borders / requiring quarantine for arrivals? Were they afraid that restricting travel would hurt their economy?

      clearly. it's also a drastic and unpopular measure if people don't see the danger. suppose you can cut the spread in half and save a few hundred lives by closing early, later nobody will really value what 'never happened' and just blame you for trashing the economy. however, if you wait for a few to die and the danger to become apparent people will be demanding you close the borders, and then you do.

      Do they think that was a good decision in hindsight?

      good for who? it's politics ...

  • Confirmed (Score:2, Funny)

    by Train0987 ( 1059246 )

    Bunch of racists!!!!

  • Get ready and prepare yourselves (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    A lot of countries right now are talking about or just implemented a two weeks lockdown. Now the European Union is implementing a one month lockdown.

    I hope you are prepared because a future world-wide panic lockdown lasting a few months does not seem impossible right now.

  • EU doesn't have borders. It's only a paper concept. The countries of the EU have borders.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      The power of the Schengen Agreement kept the EU wide open for a long time.
      Lots of time for wuflu to spread due to weeks of EU politics.
      Left wide open to refugees, illegal migrants and tourism.

    • Congratulations you just described every country. They all just exist on paper as a concept. You should learn about these pieces of paper and why papers declare people as citizens of a European Union rather than of a specific country.

  • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • It's not about closing the barn door, it's about not having:
      a) large groups of people stuck in metal tubes together.
      b) people from not so well off nations hospital shopping in better off nations.

  • Let the Great Experiment begin! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @03:25PM (#59841740)

    With so many countries self-isolating now, it will be really interesting to see what approaches to virus management are effective.

    Will the UK trying to gain early herd immunity be the right call? Will South Korea's attempt to track and contain really pan out as well as it seems currently? Will middle of the road approaches end up doing OK by simply flattening the curve?

    We are actually all super lucky to have this happen with the Covid19 virus. On average it's not that much danger to older people and still basically spreads like at the well-known coronavirus, if faster... so it allows us to study how well viral outbreak reactions work without the risk 90% of the population dying off as we might have with other viruses. It also shows us what is practical to do and what is not, what steps are too far and what are not...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by khchung ( 462899 )

      South Korea has already flattened the curve https://www.worldometers.info/... [worldometers.info]

      So had many other Asian countries that practiced different levels of social distancing/lockdown AND back-tracing of the infected to aggressively follow up other potentially infected so as to isolate them before they can further infect others.

      UK's so-called attempt to gain herd immunity, "so-called" because it is just an excuse to do nothing, is the epitome of irresponsibility. Yesterday BBC was reporting that UK's strategy has now

    • Deprive or make 25 people of working age unemployed/incomeless for every frail oldie out there. The numbers may be a bit off but that is one way of looking at it. How will they vote after? +1 - it is not the SAR's like biggie we first imagined. Why are we trying to flatten mythical curves, when the infection rate is as certain as the common cold or flu? Probably public image. I hope everyone who lost income and opportunity boots the elected clowns out of office. Flu season is continuous , does not take a
  • Seriously, this should have been done by them long ago. For nations like New Zealand, it makes sense to keep their borders closed, but EU, like America, is way too late in closing these borders.
  • Aus Farr Think German for exit, which coincides with another common exit. Can the back side spread virus airborne? Coz if stinkies can linger in the air, every one knows this experience, and the virus in digestion track then another risk vector. Butt masks?

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