The chance that our country will not go into lockdown today seems non-existent. It recalls where things went wrong: the easing that several experts warned so hard about. The new government is clearly more interested in their views. There has therefore been a change of power in the world of experts.
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Today at 1 pm, the Consultation Committee will meet again in the Egmont Palace to consider new interrelations. They can rely on a report from the advisory body Celeval, where the internal balance of power has clearly changed.
Yesterday it became known that health economist Lieven Annemans is resigning from Celeval. In September, Annemans fervently argued for a relaxation of the corona measures, and repeatedly questioned the correctness of the information from the Sciensano health institute. Partly under his impetus, the Wilmès government relaxed the corona rules on September 23.
Even then, medical experts – such as virologist Marc Van Ranst and infectiologist Erika Vlieghe – warned of the impact of the relaxation on the corona curves. And now that the situation in our country has gotten completely out of hand, Annemans is facing a lot of criticism. He confirmed to our editorial office to withdraw.
So exit Annemans. Marc Van Ranst then re-enters the highest advisory body. Erika Vlieghe even joined the personal team of Corona Commissioner Pedro Facon, and can thus directly direct policy.
Informal clique
Vlieghe and Van Ranst also form an informal clique with other scientists, including biostatisticians Geert Molenberghs and Niel Hens, motivational psychologist Maarten Vansteenkiste and epidemiologist Pierre Van Damme. They provide ad hoc advice to the various policy makers. In recent days, those experts – with their own WhatsApp group – have intensified the pressure to implement a complete lockdown. A position for which they received a lot of support. For example, Margot Cloet, director at Zorgnet-Icuro, joined the cart. And Walloon Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo (PS) also announced that he would intervene, should the Consultation Committee today not be strict enough.
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