The EU-funded Platform foR European Preparedness Against (Re-) emerging Epidemics (PREPARE) has decided to upgrade its response efforts to the COVID-19 epidemic to Outbreak Research Response Mode 3, the Clinical research mode.
This is a direct result of the steep rise of confirmed cases of the virus in patients across Europe and the world. A total of 69 countries across the world, of which 31 in Europe, have now reported cases of COVID-19, with over 3000 deaths globally. It is evident that the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak is an immediate public health threat to Europe. As a consequence, on 2 March, the European Centre for Disease Control and prevention (ECDC) announced that it considers the risk of widespread sustained transmission of COVID-19 in EU/EEA and UK in the coming weeks moderate to high.
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