Preparedness and response
Out of the 22 rapid risk/outbreak assessments that the Centre conducted and published during 2021, 11 (50%) aimed to assess different phases and developments in the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, under the One Health approach in response to cross-border foodborne threats through joint ECDC-EFSA rapid outbreak assessments, EU level analyses of data were performed in cooperation with EFSA, European Union Reference Laboratories, Member States and other relevant parties. ECDC, in collaboration with the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), maintained and curated the ECDC-JRC Response Measures Database (RMD), a repository of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) implemented since 1 January 2020 in EU/EEA Member States in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ECDC coordinated NPI data collection and data validation with fortnight frequency, with the dissemination of the database supported both by JRC and ECDC in their respective webpages and in different formats to facilitate different uses.
One of the ECDC’s core tasks is to provide technical support to the EU-level response to communicable disease threats. Decision No 1082/2013/EU on serious cross-border threats to health and the International Health Regulations (IHR) continued to be the policy frameworks under which ECDC operates for emergency preparedness and response. In this area, ECDC strengthened the coordination between the European Commission and Member States. ECDC’s actions addressed all the countries or groups of countries based on their needs, and in synergy with WHO. There was active collaboration with relevant ongoing EU Joint Actions (SHARP, Healthy Gateways, Terror) to support activities related to preparedness and response and implementation of the IHR.
In 2021, the public health emergency preparedness and
response work was in large part directed to supporting the
European Commission and EU/EEA Member States to undertake
actions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to
the health of the European population.
The EU Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) on public health threats is operated by ECDC on behalf of the European Commission and serves as a key tool to support the EU-level response to cross-border health threats. During 2021, ECDC ensured proper functioning of EWRS and implemented further improvements of the platform according to the needs of the European Commission and Member States. ECDC supported the European Commission with a survey about lessons learned from the use of EWRS during the COVID-19 pandemic, to guide further the EWRS development. In addition, the EpiPulse platform was launched in 2021 to facilitate collection of data and exchange of experts' experiences in communicable disease outbreaks.
ECDC maintained the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) in the highest alert level. The ECDC public health emergency plan which enables the Director to mobilise resources to support the EU-level response to serious cross-border threats to European public health, continued to be in force with the Public Health Emergency (PHE) structure in place for the duration of the whole year.
The experts in the public health emergency preparedness and response team were heavily involved in PHE activities, including in functions such as PHE manager, PHE strategic analysts, PHE technical expert, PHE response duty, PHE internal evaluators, technical support for PHE managers, team members of COVID-19 task forces, etc.
For the entire 2021, the ECDC PHE plan in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic was maintained at level 2, the maximum level of alert.