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The Health Ministry’s epidemiological surveillance and infectious disease control unit released on Wednesday a list of countries separated into three categories after evaluating the epidemiological risk of each country as regards coronavirus.
According to the announcement, the evaluation was made after taking into consideration the main epidemiological indicators of each country, such as the coronavirus effective reproduction number (Rt), the number of new cases, the number of laboratory tests conducted, the death rate per 100,000 people, and WHO classifications as presented on valid databases.
The Health Ministry unit separated countries into three categories:
Category A – low-risk countries
Countries included in Category A are those with an effective reproductive number of less than 1 and/or a small number of new cases (less than 1 for every 100,000 people per day) and/or a low or very low coronavirus mortality rate (less than 5-10 per 100,000 people) and/or at least satisfactory lab testing (over 3,000 tests per 100,000 people) and/or the classification by the WHO of the country as one with sporadic cases or a cluster of cases.
These countries are: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.
Category B – greater risk compared to Category A
Countries in Category B are those with an effective reproduction rate (Rt) of more than 1 and/or daily new diagnoses that are over 1 person per 100,000 inhabitants and/or a mortality rate of over 10 people per 100,000 and/or limited lab testing for coronavirus.
These countries are: Israel, Poland, Romania.
Category C – greater risk compared to Categories A and B
Belgium, Ireland, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK.
The Health Ministry unit clarified that the categorization of countries on the basis of risk as regards coronavirus is exceptionally dynamic and can alter at any moment. As such, the list and categorization will be updated regularly.
