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Rapidly rising corona numbers: the Belgian loss of control

2020-10-19T19:10:07.722Z


Curfew, home office, closed restaurants: Belgium's new government is fighting against Corona. Many citizens wonder why their country is hit so hard again.


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Belgium's Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke

Photo: STEPHANIE LECOCQ / POOL / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

Belgium's new health minister did not even try to gloss over the situation.

"We are really very close to a tsunami," said Frank Vandenbroucke.

"We have no control over what happens."

So that everyone understood what was at stake, the man added on the Belgian TV station RTL on Sunday evening: The corona situation in Brussels and the southern part of Wallonia was "the most dangerous in all of Europe".  

A look at the current figures confirms the finding.

On average, Belgium registered 605 corona infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 14 days, in the EU only the Czech Republic is currently worse affected by the pandemic.

According to statistics from the Belgian health institute Sciensano, the number of people infected with corona rose by 79 percent from October 9 to October 15 to an average of almost 8,000 new cases per day.

At 30 people a day, the number of deaths was 89 percent higher than the previous week, but has still not reached the level of early April.

In total, more than 10,000 people have died of Corona in Belgium since the pandemic began - that's about the same number of victims as in Germany - but Belgium has only a fraction of the population with eleven million.  

Cafes, bars and restaurants have to close for four weeks

Now, of all times, when the country finally has a proper government again after almost 500 days of searching for a coalition, there is a threat of corona loss of control.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo reacts with drastic steps, late, but at least.

From Monday, in addition to cafes and bars, all restaurants will have to close for four weeks.

In addition, there is now a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. across the country.

Whether Belgium can use it to stop the spread of the virus is currently completely open. 

Sunday evening, a street in the rather affluent Brussels municipality of Ixelles, families with children live here, many EU officials, a bit of Prenzlauer Berg, only in French.

A sign indicates that a mask is required on the street, but no one knows whether that still applies, actually the government has long since lifted the obligation.

Restaurant visitors cuddle up under the patio heaters, and the tables inside are also well occupied.

One last dinner at the favorite Italian restaurant before everything is tight again.

On Monday, many of them will be back to work from home, the government insists on teleworking where possible.

People accept it, but unlike in the spring, when many thought it was a one-off situation, there is now frustration in the air, and not just among the restaurant operators.

Even with the first wave of the corona crisis, the country had to struggle with an above-average number of cases and deaths - and responded with a lockdown that was very tough compared to Germany: at times nothing was open except supermarkets and bakeries, no schools and universities, no authorities , no shops.

Anyone who was walking in the park with friends had to put up with unpleasant questions from the police.

After all, the sun was mostly shining. 

Now what has it used?

Much would be gained if one could clearly state the reasons why Belgium is hit so hard by wave two again.

Sure, the country is densely populated, with many people traveling through, on the way to France, Great Britain or Germany - ideal for the virus to spread quickly.

In addition, the often Kafka-esque governing structure of the country, which is basically divided between Flanders and Wallonia, makes it difficult to react quickly to crises.

This also applies to the capital Brussels, which is split into 19 municipalities and is currently the major city in Europe most severely affected by Corona.  

Communication with citizens does not always go smoothly either.

For example, the National Security Council lifted the mandatory masking requirement on the streets, which had just been introduced across the board, at the end of September - even though the numbers were already rising again.

The pressure of the corona deniers and mask opponents had an effect.

You have to learn to live with the virus, said the then interim government leader Sophie Wilmès.

Many people saw this as a signal that the worst was already over.

A huge misjudgment.  

"We gave people the impression that everything was under control," says microbiologist Emmanuel André, professor of medicine at the Catholic University of Leuven and head of the national reference laboratory for respiratory infections.

"In Belgium not only the citizens but also the crisis management needed the fear of overcrowded hospitals in order to finally react." 

In addition, those returning from summer vacation, for example from Turkey, Croatia or Spain, seem to have contributed a lot to the spread of the pandemic, as Geert Molenberghs says, biostatistician, also at the Catholic University of Leuven.

"In mid-August, the circulation of the virus had decreased significantly. By mid-September there were new burns everywhere. These are not local transmissions." 

In addition, there is the role of the French-speaking universities, for example in Louvain-La-Neuve, which started earlier than the other institutes in the country from the summer break.

Students got infected in the dormitory and spread the virus from there at home, especially in the French-speaking part of the country.

In Belgium it is much more common than in Germany, for example, that students spend the weekend with their parents.

The difficult situation in Brussels has long been affecting the work of the EU institutions again.

In the European Parliament, some MPs tested positive, many MPs, including parliamentary group leaders, are in voluntary quarantine because of contacts with people who have tested positive.

This also applies to the EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.

The current week of the meeting will therefore largely take place in video format.

So now: curfew, no more restaurants, home office.

Microbiologist André thinks all the points make sense.

"Sure, the measures come very late," he says, "but they could be enough to contain the virus."

He was particularly concerned, once again, with the situation in old people's and nursing homes.

The virus raged here in the first wave. 

The situation in the hospitals is becoming more tense

The situation in the clinics is also becoming more tense.

There are currently 2485 corona patients in Belgian hospitals, 412 of them in intensive care units.

This roughly corresponds to the situation around March 20, the initial phase of the previous lockdown, as reported by the TV station RTBF. 

Oliver Paasch knows that too.

The Prime Minister of the German-speaking community of Belgium assumes that the restrictions that have now been decided will be sufficient to counter the virus.

Like many others, however, he is critical of the complete end for restaurants.

"If we shut everything down, the whole of life shifts into private life - with the result that we can control even less whether people obey the rules." 

It is Paasch's great concern that the borders of East Belgium with North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate remain open.

That is still the case; many Belgians still use the flying visit across the border to fill up on cheap diesel or to buy.

If it goes to Paasch, nothing should change that.

"Border closings are not a drug against the coronavirus," says Paasch.

"The Aachener who goes to Berlin has a higher risk than if he comes to Ostbelgien."

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Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2020-10-19

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