Reuters reveals how Europe sleepwalked into the coronavirus crisis

Reuters revealed how barely a month before Europe embarked on a scramble for masks, ventilators and testing kits to fight coronavirus, governments told Brussels their healthcare systems were ready and there was no need to order more stocks. This rosy assessment was in stark contrast to the shortages of masks and medical equipment just a few weeks later. While the dearth of equipment is mostly down to ballooning global demand, internal and public documents seen by Reuters show EU governments may have worsened their predicament by overestimating their response capacity.