EU leaders to hold COVID-19 video-conference

European Union leaders will hold a video-conference next week to discuss how to better cooperate against the COVID-19 pandemic as infections rise.

To be held on October. 29, the video-meeting will be the first of a series of regular discussions that EU leaders have committed to holding to tackle the pandemic.

The discussion will take place a day after the EU Commission is expected to announce new plans to strengthen coordination among EU states on testing strategies, contact tracing, and quarantine length.
The EU's 27 nations fought COVID-19 with different, sometimes contrasting measures in the pandemic's first months. The tighter coordination is expected to prevent a repeat of the divisions seen after the first outbreaks.

A certain degree of coordination has emerged in recent weeks and months on some issues, such as vaccine procurement and common non-binding criteria, to assess the epidemic's gravity at the national level. But national measures still vary considerably.

The length of quarantine for those who have been in contact with sick people had been 14 days across the EU until recently when some countries began shortening it.