Strengthening and adjusting public health measures throughout the COVID-19 transition phases. Policy considerations for the WHO European Region
Member States of the WHO European Region are at varying phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of the phase, governments and public health authorities must begin to envision, and plan for, the subsequent stages of their response strategy, with the ultimate aim of reaching and maintaining a state of low-level or no transmission. This document provides key considerations for Member States to help them to decide on the modulation of large-scale restrictive public health measures (i.e. movement restrictions and large-scale physical distancing), while at the same time strengthening core public health service capacities (to identify, isolate, test and treat every patient and quarantine contacts) together with personal protective measures (hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette) and individual physical distancing (>1 metre distance). The transition should be informed by national, sub-national or even community-level risk assessments as the transmission of COVID-19 is typically not homogeneous within a country.
