15.

URGES Member States to act together, in cooperation with the Commission, in a proportionate and appropriate manner in line with WHO recommendations and the advice of ECDC, on the following lines: a) take the necessary and appropriate measures to ensure the protection of public health, taking into account the particular attention to be paid to all forms of international travel. Those measures should ensure in particular that: — all EU points of entry have the means to provide necessary information and guidance to persons at increased risk of carrying the 2019-nCoV virus, on how to seek appropriate medical advice and care; — clear plans and resources are in place in order to provide appropriate care in healthcare settings for suspected and confirmed carriers of the 2019-nCoV virus as well as for any necessary further actions such as tracing of contacts; — information is provided, throughout the EU, to international travellers, arriving, or in transit from affected areas and that such persons are possible to trace; — where justified by circumstances, travellers arriving or in transit from affected areas can be asked to provide information as to whether they have been in contact with persons from those areas; — guidance and information are provided to health care workers and the general public; — hospital personnel treating the patients have appropriate protection; and should comply with WHO recommendations issued on the basis of the IHR, the work of the HSC, the advice of ECDC, and national plans and guidelines; b) develop close and enhanced coordination between Member States to ensure effectiveness of all measures, including, if necessary, measures regarding travel, while safeguarding the free movement within the EU, to ensure optimal protection of public health and increase the general public’s awareness of COVID-2019; c) in the field of monitoring and surveillance, to continuously share information on the evolution of the 2019-nCoV virus within their territory through existing European and international structures, in accordance with the IHR and Decision No 1082/2013/EU; d) in the field of diagnosis and treatment, in accordance with Decision No 1082/2013/EU and in compliance with Article 44 of the IHR, continue to demonstrate solidarity and cooperation, in supporting each other and the global community in the identification of the source of the 2019-nCoV virus and its full potential for human-to-human transmission, in the development of necessary treatment, the elaboration of common case-management guidelines, in the sharing of diagnosis capacity as necessary and in the optimisation of the use of antivirals; e) in the field of communication, utilising, as appropriate, the HSC and its Communicators’ Network, provide coordinated, accurate, timely and consistent information and guidance to the general public on COVID-19, based on evidence and available data, thereby countering misinformation and disinformation, which can as one of their effects lead to discrimination; f) in the field of research and development, cooperate closely with each other, and, where appropriate, with industry and academia, to facilitate the development of a pilot vaccine against COVID-19, and the development of diagnostics and antivirals;