Correspondent in Brussels
New turn of the screw in Belgium to stem the explosion of contaminations and protect a health system on the verge of implosion.
Just nine days after initial restrictions, new decisions were announced Friday after an urgently called meeting.
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The discos will draw the curtain from this Saturday evening. Bars and restaurants will remain open but will have to close at 11 p.m. and customers cannot be more than six per table. Private gatherings indoors - outside the home - are prohibited, with the exception of receptions given for weddings and funerals. Indoor competitions can still take place, but without an audience. And Belgians are asked to limit their contacts as much as possible. As for the children of the south of the country, they will not celebrate Saint-Nicolas at school in early December. These measures are valid for three weeks, until December 15. The only exception to this schedule, the mandatory teleworking since last week - 4 days out of 5 - is extended until December 19. Wider,a call for vaccination was launched on Friday.
A worrying situation
Will these measures be enough to stem the contamination?
Unlike in the Netherlands, partial reconfigurations are not the order of the day in Belgium, where a political consensus on this issue seems out of reach anyway, especially within the federal government.
The situation, as depicted by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, is however very worrying.
“Our health care system is starting to function less well.
Transactions must be postponed.
It is becoming more and more frequent.
Daily care is also threatened.
General practitioners are crumbling under a tsunami of people who need to be tested.
Many companies have to downsize.
Not because of government measures, but because of the loss of personnel ”
, he listed.
A Belgian-style compromise will probably be found.
However, few compromises can be made with viruses.
Marc Van Ranst, virologist
In fact, all the indicators are red in Belgium. Contamination has increased by 48% between the last two known weeks. The incidence rate has now reached 1,189 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the last seven days. It is more than four times higher than in France and higher than in the Netherlands. The number of beds available in intensive care is reduced. According to the daily
De Standaard
, on average there are only two places left per hospital, while the number of admissions continues to increase. While Belgium is also the first European country to have announced a case of the new variant of Covid-19, the government seemed concerned, Friday, not to worry the population too much.
“There is no need to panic. But you need to be careful"
, repeated the Minister of Health, Frank Vandenbroucke.
Some experts remain unsatisfied and call for more drastic measures.
“A Belgian-style compromise will probably be found.
However, few compromises can be made with viruses, ”
said virologist Marc Van Ranst before the announcement of the new Belgian restrictions.
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