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The crown crisis in Belgium has worsened to such an extent that the government is pulling a tightrope: most stores will have to close as of Monday; Exceptions apply to supermarkets. Contact restrictions will be further stiffened.
In Belgium, which has been hit hard by the corona virus, most stores will have to close again as of Monday. There are exceptions for supermarkets, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said after a crisis meeting in Brussels. “These are last-chance measures.”
According to the EU Health Agency, Belgium currently has the highest number of corona infections in the European Union in terms of population.
Interim balance in December
Belgium had already tried a lot recently to contain the pandemic. Cafes, restaurants and bars, but also museums, theaters, cinemas and swimming pools are closed. There is a night curfew. But the crown’s situation has worsened. Belgium has a health emergency, Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said.
The rules are also becoming stricter within their own four walls: Belgians can no longer invite four, but only one visitor to their home per week; those who live alone are allowed two. Outside in the open air, a maximum of four people can meet, with a distance and a mask. It’s still possible to walk or play sports outdoors, says De Croo.
The new rules should initially apply for a month and a half. An interim balance will be drawn up for stores closed on December 1. However, customers can still pick up products from closed stores or receive them.
The situation got dramatically worse
In Belgium, the number of infections has increased rapidly for weeks. Authorities in the country with a population of eleven million last recorded an average of 15,316 infections per day in a week. Across the EU, the neighboring country recorded the highest number of infections per 100,000 inhabitants in two weeks: 1,600.
That is nine times more than in Germany. One in four crown tests in Belgium was positive recently. The measures taken so far have not led to relief. Rather, the situation in hospitals has dramatically worsened in recent weeks. Sometimes the capacity limits have already been reached.
“Pain threshold exceeded”
Dozens of patients had to be transferred to other hospitals. More recently, 6,187 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized, 1,057 of them in the intensive care unit. “In many of our hospitals, the pain threshold has been exceeded for a while,” De Croo said.
The Belgian Hospital Association recently sounded the alarm and called for closure. This is the only way to avoid a total collapse of the health system. The leading virologists made similar statements.
With information from Astrid Corall, ARD Studio Brussels
