There is a good chance that next week we will evolve to an average of 1,000 covid-19 infections per day, says virologist Marc Van Ranst (KU Leuven). “The problem is that the measures are being called into question,” it read in De Zevende Dag on Sunday. “Also by the government.”
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Virologists call the sharp increase in the number of new infections (+38 percent) ‘worrying’. The Sciensano figures show that between 3 September and 9 September an average of 636 people were infected every day, next week we will probably increase to 1,000 a day. ‘Accelerating the figures is not a good sign,’ says Steven Van Gucht of Sciensano. “It should stabilize.” He insists on the importance of the measures. “We will have to maintain discipline.”
But that’s where the shoe pinches, says virologist Marc Van Ranst The Seventh Day on a. ‘The measures that are available are fine. The problem is they are now being questioned. Opinion pieces are appearing everywhere, but the government is doing it too. In this way you create the idea among the population that it is not all that bad and that the measures are exaggerated. And so you get an increase again. ‘
Contact tracing
According to the virologist, it is not serious to question the effectiveness of the measures. ‘It’s very simple: if the measures are applied, the figures will drop. If they are not followed, the figures will rise – and you will need new measures. ‘ In recent days there has been a lot to do about the mandatory mouth mask in schools, for example, but also the ‘bubble’ and the mandatory quarantine for those who have come into contact with an infected person are regularly criticized. Van Ranst emphasizes that it is not the measures that harm the economy, but the virus.
Next week will be the litmus test of the contact tracing. ‘If the number of infections exceeds the capacity of contact tracing’, Van Ranst also explains, ‘then you have a problem. Because then there is a chance that not all people will be reached – that is not already happening – and you can get a further continuation of the epidemic. ‘
Young people
All in all, hospital admissions and the number of deaths remain reasonably low, the infections are currently mainly situated among the young population. ‘If you look at the evolution in Spain, you also had infections in young people there. And then they think it will stay that way, it is not. In parts of France and Spain you can see the infections seeping from the younger to the older population. And then you do get more hospitalizations and deaths. That’s what you want to avoid. ‘
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