Although the outbreak is most intense in Italy, the novel coronavirus has spread to nearly every European Union member country, along with Britain and Switzerland. As of Friday evening, 215 people in Europe infected with the virus had died, according to the count maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

On Friday in Brussels, much of the discussion centered on addressing potential shortages in protective equipment — including the face masks that have sold out in pharmacies across the continent. But France and Germany are among those resisting sharing their supplies with other E.U. members.

The European health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, told the assembled ministers she recognized their main priority was protecting their own citizens. But she warned that European solidarity is “in the self-interest of us all.”

So far, the coronavirus has underscored the difficulty — and perhaps even the impossibility — of Europe responding to a uniform threat with a united front. If anything, the prospect of a global pandemic has exposed the cracks, both bureaucratic and political, in Europe’s ability …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]