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“I don’t think it’s that bad”
Experienced soldiers say that in military conflict zones, soldiers who have not just arrived, but who have already lived in danger, often die. The situation is similar with the coronavirus.
At least in Belgium, this explanation seems valid. After the spring shock, when the country became one of the countries most affected by COVID-19 in Europe and when strict quarantine measures were taken, it is now calm, although the statistics look very bad.
The Belgian people seem to be used to or even not convinced that the coronavirus is so dangerous. There are still many masked people on the streets of Brussels. But not all: masks are not mandatory on all streets, and a large part wear masks that do not meet the requirements: it is the nose that protrudes or the mask is completely lowered. Employees in bars, shops and other service sectors especially like wearing masks in this way – it’s hard to breathe and work, they explain.
Social distancing, especially on busy pedestrian streets, cafes or lines at the checkout counter, is also a “purely theoretical” requirement. Some stores don’t even carry hand sanitizer.
“People have returned to a normal life because they don’t think it’s that bad. However, the virus is on the mend, the infectious disease expert professor told Belgian news service VTR. Erika Vlieghe. “We need a strong new campaign to reach people who are not easy to reach.”
The numbers are growing
Meanwhile, new records of COVID-19 are being reported every day. On Monday, the average number of new cases in seven days reached 2.1 thousand, with a daily record of more than 3,000. new cases, which were not even in the spring. In total, about 130,000 people have registered in the country since the start of the pandemic. diseases. Belgium has become one of the five leading countries in COVID-19 in Europe.
“The stabilization that we recorded last week is no longer continuing. On the contrary, once again we are seeing a clear increase in cases in all regions and among all age averages,” virologist Steven Van Gucht told a news conference on Monday.
The average number of deaths is 9 per day. The total number of deaths from coronavirus rose to 10,000. An average of 77 people are hospitalized daily. Doctors are already ringing the alarm bells that hospitals are no longer available and are beginning to cancel scheduled surgeries to make room for coronavirus-infected patients.
The largest fireplace is Brussels. In one of the municipalities of the capital, Molenbeke, 744 cases were registered for every 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. The virus is more prevalent among young people, but it is also found in the over 90 age group.
Have the measures not worked yet?
It is not the case that the Belgian authorities are doing nothing. More and more tests are being carried out. At the end of last week, the COVID-19 testing village was opened in Brussels, where 1,500 tests can be performed per day. The same “town” was due to open on Monday, with a total of six of those locations in the capital. The aim is to be able to carry out 63,000 jobs a day in Brussels. tests.
It is also planned to develop a coronavirus barometer that collects and centralizes data from family doctors on their patients with respiratory disorders. This would allow physicians to predict the potential number of hospitalizations.
On the last day of September, the coronalert coronal virus application was launched, where you can find the latest information about COVID-19, receive an alert if you have been in contact with a person who has been diagnosed with the virus, or know the results. of your test. In recent days, this application has been downloaded by about 657 thousand people. consumers.
The new Belgian health minister, Frank Vandenbroucke, has asked Belgians to reduce their circle of contacts to close to three, although the rules set a limit of five people. True, at the same time, the Belgian rules state that it is possible to be in a group of up to 10 adults (from 12 years old), but to maintain social distance. Municipalities, on the other hand, can take tougher measures: the aforementioned Molenbek has reduced this number to 5, in addition to introducing other restrictions.
In the EU institutions, it is also worrying
The European Parliament, which meets in Brussels, has also opened its own testing laboratory
in order to reduce the burden on the Belgian healthcare system. On the other hand, at least until now, in Belgium, test results had to wait up to 92 hours, and to complete the test, they had to queue.
As for the European institutions, the third senior official has already been quarantined. Last week, Charles Michel, President of the Council of Europe, resumed self-isolation and even referred the European Council to contact a security guard assigned to COVID-19. At the same time, the Vice President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, took the same steps.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was reportedly forced to self-quarantine on Monday after learning on Sunday night that in Portugal last week
contacted a person for whom COVID-19 has been approved. U. von der Leyen last Thursday
the test was negative and she does not feel any symptoms of the disease, but a new test was performed on Monday. According to Belgian regulations, quarantine is required for 7 days after contact with the infected person.
“When she (U. von der Leyen – Past ed.) Attended the European Council, her test in
Thursday morning, it was negative and I did not know I had contact. Of course, we inform
The Permanent Representations and the leaders themselves on the situation so that all necessary measures can be taken, “Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said on Monday of the president’s meetings with EU leaders late last week. .
At the European Commission, civil servants are examined twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.
According to this morning’s report, there were 159 positive cases in the Commission. We are taking all precautionary measures, “Balazs Ujvari, another spokesman for the European Commission, said on Monday.
It was also reported Monday that Commissioner Mariya Gabriel was also taking self-isolation because one of her cabinet members had been diagnosed with a coronavirus.
There is no better news from NATO headquarters at the other end of Brussels. The local sports center has been closed due to COVID-19 cases. Additionally, more than a dozen NATO ambassadors and high-level diplomats were also quarantined for attending an event in which a person was found to have a coronavirus.
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