CEPA has published an open letter, citing pest management as an essential industry for protecting key workers and calling for it to be recognised as such. 

CEPA Open Letter:

With the Covid-19 crisis forcing many industries into standby mode, the question of which industries are recognised as essential by national governments has been thrown into the limelight.

Key industries all over Europe rely on pest management. It is vitally important that pest management is recognised for its role in keeping key services functioning and given the green light by the authorities to continue protecting public health.

The professional pest management sector has a critical role to play in:

• Protecting the food supply chain. Contamination, food waste and disease must be minimised at all costs during this pandemic. Pest control is key to ensure rodents and other types of pests do not impact the food retail, food production and pharmaceutical supply chains.
• Allowing doctors, nurses, midwives and care workers continue to treat people. Hospitals and care homes will not be authorised to stay open if they are plagued with rats and mice. Disinfection and deep cleaning services of any type of public building is therefore absolutely key in the fight against COVID-19.
• Helping to protect the most vulnerable, and those caring for them, from further potentially deadly pathogens and disease, through reducing their exposure to disease-carrying pests.

It is vitally important that pest management is recognised for its role in keeping key services functioning and given the green light by the authorities to continue protecting public health.

CEPA

You can find scientific resources as well as the latest information on our Knowledge Hub.

So far, several European governments, including Italy, Spain, Northern Ireland and Portugal have confirmed that they will allow pest managers to continue their essential work throughout COVID-19 lockdown. Find out how your country compares on our tracker.

CEPA is calling on all authorities to update their guidance and explicitly allow pest management to continue during the COVID-19 crisis, to mitigate the serious consequences of a failure to act now. We hope you will join us on this journey.

Read the full Open Letter here.