Political leaders ‘underestimated’ virus threat, European Commission chief admits

Political leaders “underestimated” the magnitude of the danger posed by the coronavirus, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said. Her statement came as the EU shut its borders.

“I think that all of us who are not experts initially underestimated the coronavirus,” she told Germany’s Bild newspaper in an interview published Wednesday. “But now it is clear that this is a virus that will keep us busy for a long time yet.” Von der Leyen added that “measures that seemed drastic two or three weeks ago, need to be taken now.”

The commission chief, however, rejected the language of French President Emmanuel Macron, who likened the outbreak to war this week, and ordered almost the entire population to stay at home for at least two weeks.

Germany’s economy minister, Peter Altmaier, said the United States under Donald Trump had taken the threat of the virus even more lightly, AFP reported.