Beros addressed a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the European Union's health ministers over the COVID-19 virus which was convened so the ministers could exchange their experiences and information on what their respective countries are doing to contain the outbreak of this disease.
According to the data provided by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), currently there are over 5,500 cases that have tested positive in the 27 EU member-states, Great Britain and in the European Economic Area countries.
We are preparing as best we can. This is a new challenge, a new crisis, Beros said expressing hope that warmer weather conditions in the spring would lead to the abatement of the infection.
He also said that he was glad to hear that some of the ministers informed that their countries had stepped up their efforts aimed at increasing their production capacities of protective equipment and medicines.
Beros added that currently there were enough respirators on the global market.
He added that the European Commission had launched a procedure for the unification of public procurement which should facilitate procurement for member-states to obtain equipment.
However, everything depends on the duration of the crisis, the Croatian minister admitted.