The prominent scientist Marc van Ranst is extremely dissatisfied with the actions of the politicians in his country.
He has a clear demand on her - and is now protesting with other virologists.
The Belgian virologist
Marc van Ranst is going
on a
"silent strike"
with colleagues
.
Belgium
currently has high
numbers of
corona infections
and is relaxing its
requirements
at the same time.
Van Ranst urges
politicians
to give
more
public interviews
about their decisions.
Brussels - Germany has
its ranks of prominent
virologists
in the
pandemic
with
Drosten
,
Streeck
or
Kekulé
. Belgium
, which is currently
struggling
with an alarming
seven-day incidence *
,
has among others
Marc van Ranst
.
He and several colleagues want to go on a
"silent strike"
from this Saturday until next Monday (September 28)
- in protest against the Corona * management of politics.
You do not want to
give
interviews
on these days
, reported the Belgian broadcaster
VRT
.
According to the
VRT
,
Van Ranst
expressly
emphasized
that the protest was not directed against the
media
.
Rather, the scientists complain that politicians too often
hid
behind them
and
refused
to give
interviews about their
corona policy
.
Virologists protest against communication with politicians in the corona pandemic
Shortly before, for example, Van Ranst corrected a request on Twitter from a private person who wanted to know whether it was true that Belgium was reducing its
corona tests *
.
Van Ranst denied this, but confirmed that the
mask requirement is
currently
no longer applicable
in the country.
I have no idea where this comes from.
Nothing changed about PCR tests.
The government did decide that masks are not mandatory anymore in open air, except in really crowded circumstances.
- Marc Van Ranst (@vanranstmarc) September 24, 2020
In Belgium, the government recently relaxed individual measures despite rising corona numbers *.
For example, it is not necessary to make it mandatory to wear
mouth and nose protection
everywhere, said
Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès
.
In the capital, Brussels, the mask requirement has so far applied at all times and in all public areas.
Starting in
October
, it should be limited to busy places such as
public transport
.
Virologists strike in Belgium: travel warning from the Foreign Office continues to apply
Belgium is relatively badly affected by the
Sars-CoV-2 virus
.
According to the authorities, around
150 infected people
per
100,000 inhabitants have been
counted
in the past two weeks
.
The
Federal Foreign Office has currently issued a travel warning
for the capital
Brussels
.
+
Scene of a corona test at Brussels Airport: Belgian virologists want to demonstrate against national policy in the pandemic.
© Thierry Roge / BELGA / dpa
In twelve other EU countries, including France, Austria and Great Britain, the number of infections is also rising rapidly.
So far, however, it tends to
affect
younger people
and severe disease courses * less often.
(frs with material from dpa)
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital editorial network.
List of rubric lists: © Thierry Roge / BELGA / dpa