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The provincial crisis cell Antwerp will limit the number of social contacts to 10 over the next four weeks. In the city of Antwerp, everyone over twelve must have a mouth mask with them, but it does not have to be worn everywhere.
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With 431 infections in a week, the Scheldt city is currently the place where the coronavirus rears its head most. That is why Governor Cathy Berx took stricter measures after consultation with her emergency planning service, the police and Flemish and federal health inspectors.
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The social bubble is limited across the province of Antwerp to ten permanent contacts for the next four weeks. To be clear, it concerns 10 external contacts per family. That is less than the federal standard: the Security Council fixed the social bubble on 15 people who can change weekly.
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The crisis cell also calls for physical distance even within the social bubble and to postpone private parties for the time being. Everyone is also urged to write down the name, address and telephone number of those ten contacts.
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Wearing mouth and nose masks is mandatory in all ‘busy publicly accessible places’ for all persons over the age of twelve. Public gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited. This ban on gathering was already introduced in the city of Antwerp on Saturday, but now applies to the entire province.
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In addition to the city of Antwerp, Mayor Bart De Wever announced on Sunday that everyone over the age of twelve must have a mouth mask with them everywhere and always from Monday. There is not yet a general obligation to wear the mask effectively, according to De Wever, so that “absurd restrictions are not imposed on places where and moments when the distance rule can be perfectly guaranteed”.
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“We call on everyone to be very creative in defeating the virus and not in circumventing the measures.”
Cathy Berx
Governor of the Province of Antwerp
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The provincial measures apply for four weeks. The crisis cell hopes that after that period there will be a sharp drop in the number of infections. But following the rules is crucial, emphasizes the crisis cell led by Berx. “We call on everyone to be very creative in defeating the virus and not in circumventing the measures.”
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The province indicates that there will be consistent and strict supervision of compliance with the rules and asks the municipalities to issue GAS fines for this.
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The crisis cell expects that with proper compliance and enforcement there should be no real soft lockdown. “We and everyone absolutely want to avoid that scenario.”
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Reduce bubble
It was written in the stars that the crisis meeting would tighten up. Quite a few virologists had argued in recent days for shrinking that bubble. Berx called on Friday to temporarily meet only 2 to 5 more people. Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA) is also of the opinion that people like it have fewer contacts.
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On Friday, the Antwerp GPs and emergency doctors in an open letter asked the Antwerp residents to stay in via a ‘voluntary lockdown’. The initial findings show that the uproar is due too many close social contacts and failure to follow home isolation rules.
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Avoid Antwerp
Virologist Marc Van Ranst meanwhile calls on Twitter not to visit Antwerp. ‘Antwerp is a vibrant and fantastic city and well worth a visit. But not now, ‘writes Van Ranst. He asks people not to come to town until the major Covid19 outbreak is under control again.
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