The EU must come up with an “immediate” response to the problem of coronavirus spreading in Greeces overcrowded migrant camps, where social distancing is almost impossible, according to the head of the European Parliaments civil liberties committee.
Earlier this month, it was reported that a 40-year-old woman on the island of Lesvos had tested positive for coronavirus, sparking fears that it could spread to the nearby Moria migrant camp.
“With the first confirmation of a COVID-19 case on Lesvos, the humanitarian crisis on the Greek islands risks becoming a public health issue for which an immediate European response has to be found,” Juan Fernando López Aguilar, a Spanish Socialist MEP, wrote in a letter sent Monday to Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner for crisis management.
López Aguilar said that recent measures by the Greek government to place migrant camps under a two-week lockdown were not enough to prevent the virus from spreading.
“One of the main issues to be addressed to avoid the quick and wide spread of COVID-19 on the Greek islands is the urgent preventive evacuation of the overcrowded camps,” López Aguilar wrote. “Many of those in the camps (42,000 people in total) are already in a precarious health situation and, despite the measures taken by the Greek authorities, the overcrowding and the dire living conditions make it difficult to contain COVID-19.”
López Aguilar added that in the camps, confinement andRead More – Source
The EU must come up with an “immediate” response to the problem of coronavirus spreading in Greeces overcrowded migrant camps, where social distancing is almost impossible, according to the head of the European Parliaments civil liberties committee.
Earlier this month, it was reported that a 40-year-old woman on the island of Lesvos had tested positive for coronavirus, sparking fears that it could spread to the nearby Moria migrant camp.
“With the first confirmation of a COVID-19 case on Lesvos, the humanitarian crisis on the Greek islands risks becoming a public health issue for which an immediate European response has to be found,” Juan Fernando López Aguilar, a Spanish Socialist MEP, wrote in a letter sent Monday to Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner for crisis management.
López Aguilar said that recent measures by the Greek government to place migrant camps under a two-week lockdown were not enough to prevent the virus from spreading.
“One of the main issues to be addressed to avoid the quick and wide spread of COVID-19 on the Greek islands is the urgent preventive evacuation of the overcrowded camps,” López Aguilar wrote. “Many of those in the camps (42,000 people in total) are already in a precarious health situation and, despite the measures taken by the Greek authorities, the overcrowding and the dire living conditions make it difficult to contain COVID-19.”
López Aguilar added that in the camps, confinement andRead More – Source
