AUSTRALIA: Technical requirements for manufacturers of ventilators

Submitted by Veronika Muller on 15 April 2020.

The Australian government is increasing the availability of invasive ventilators to support Intensive Care Units (ICUs) throughout the country. Therefore, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has published new minimum technical requirements for domestically manufactured ventilators. These requirements ensure the suitability of ventilators for supply and use in Australian hospitals when...

Coronavirus: 5 useful things to know

Submitted by Veronika Muller on 15 April 2020.

The European Commission is working closely with EU Member States to f ight the pandemic in a coordinated way because decisions taken by one country will affect people across the Union. The situation is changing very quickly so to help you keep up with the latest developments, here are five things that may be useful to know from the official Medium account of the European Commission: Important...

The faces of European solidarity

Submitted by Veronika Muller on 15 April 2020.

A team of European doctors and nurses from Romania and Norway, deployed through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, is being immediately dispatched to Milan and Bergamo to support Italian medical staff working around the clock to battle the coronavirus. Furthermore, Austria has offered over 3,000 litres of disinfectant to Italy via the Mechanism. Several other EU Member States have also sent...

SPAIN: Collaboration to overcome the crisis

Submitted by Rita Andrade on 15 April 2020.

How do you advance in combatting the coronavirus crisis? Looking at the following example, the answer is clear: through collaboration and joining resources! A group of five Spanish citizens managed to bring four robots from China to Spanish hospitals in order to rapidly analyse the mass testing samples of COVID-19. Each of these robots is capable of processing 2,400 test samples, which can result...

ROMANIA: Support for companies in medical authorisation

Submitted by Rita Andrade on 15 April 2020.

ROHEALTH Cluster, the Romanian Health and Bioeconomy Cluster, supports private companies in the process of approving / authorizing medical devices by providing guidance about the steps to be followed, contacts of public authorities involved in the process, and more interesting information on the Corona crisis. All information is published on their promotional channels: ROHEALTH Website, news...

SLOVAKIA: Initiatives to overcome the Corona crisis

Submitted by Rita Andrade on 15 April 2020.

In Slovakia, the members of Košice IT Valley Cluster together with representatives of other companies in the east of Slovakia have established the initiative “ IT pomáha” (IT helps) which aims at helping local health and social care facilities to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial help collected will be used to purchase the necessary protection material with the following priority: For...

IOM: Guidance to protect migrant workers

Submitted by Rita Andrade on 15 April 2020.

Migrant workers are disproportionately impacted by the negative effects of COVID-19 on businesses, including through soaring unemployment rates and possible loss of income. Therefore, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has created a preliminary guidance for employers and businesses to enhance migrant worker protection during the current health crisis. The guidance includes sections...

Cluster collaboration to fight COVID-19 in Morocco

Submitted by Carolina Turcato on 14 April 2020.

CE3M, a Moroccan cluster specialised in electronics and mecatronics has set up a consortium to develop a ventilator in collaboration with several national and international institutions, such as universities, ministries and other companies. Within just two weeks, a new ventilator-prototype was designed, built and tested and has meanwhile been approved by public authorities. Now, the industrial...

3D-printed protective visors from UC3M

Submitted by Carolina Turcato on 14 April 2020.

Researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) are using 3D printing systems to manufacture protective screens that can be used to combat COVID-19 in the Community of Madrid. The printing of the first units is currently under way. The protective screens should arrive at health centers in the region in the next days. Researchers from the Department of Systems Engineering and...

Computer simulator recreates the spread of COVID-19 in Europe

Submitted by Carolina Turcato on 14 April 2020.

A team of Spanish researchers has designed and validated a simulator to study the evolution of the COVID-19 illness in Spain and Europe, based on parameters such as climate, social distancing policies and transportation. This research work has been carried out by scientists and technologists from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), Centro Nacional de Epidemiología (CNE) and Consorcio Centro...