Wearing a mask becomes compulsory this Wednesday in the 19 municipalities of Brussels, the milestone of 50 new contaminations per 100,000 inhabitants on average weekly having been reached. We put a few questions to Rudi Vervoort, the Minister-President of the Region.
Rudi Vervoort spoke at RTL info on Wednesday, following the announcement of the obligation to wear a mask throughout the Brussels-Capital Region.
“What was decided last week was that depending on the evolution of the epidemic, it was necessary to strengthen measures from the moment we reached the threshold of 50 positive cases per 100,000 inhabitants; and therefore , this means that from that moment, the mask was imposed everywhere in the public space, without distinction, whether it was a shopping street or not. Knowing that in Brussels, the virus is spreading, of course, in some neighborhoods more than others, but the entire Brussels region is affected by the increase in the number of cases, since in reality almost all the municipalities have exceeded the threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. that we also send to the citizen, beyond the measures that have already been taken, it is a complementary measure, we must maintain respect for the bubble of 5 people, continue to maintain social distancing, the protection of the elderly. this is already applicable, we simply ask this time to wear hides it anywhere, anytime “.
Practical details
There are of course exceptions :”playing sports, hard work in the open air and people with disabilities or who have a medical problem for wearing a mask “.
Tricky question: the bike. “The cyclist who goes from place to place and who doesn’t do it as a sport, but for a trip he’s supposed to wear his mask, obviously. We are not the first, it is the case in Antwerp, it is the case in Charleroi: as soon as you leave your home, you wear the mask “.
And the parks? “We wear the mask in green spaces, because you have to apply it uniformly. All of this is also linked to social distancing. If you sit on a bench and respect sufficient social distancing, you can take off your mask … It’s the act of moving “ which requires to wear it.
First preventive, then sanctions
“Not everyone is always online, read newspapers and watch TV all the time, the approach will be first preventive, Of course”.
“The police will determine the moment” where the approach will change, “as they did for the measures taken after the National Security Council of July 27. There is a preventive phase, and then at one point, the mayors, in consultation with the zone leaders, decide to move on to the repressive phase, depending on the way in which the wearing of the mask is respected. The objective is not to punish, we are all well aware of it. The objective is to promote membership of the population, and we believe that it is first through prevention that we must act, before repression “.
“It is all the local actors, the peacekeepers, all those who are on the ground, who will recall the necessity of wearing a mask, then depending on when we consider that we must pass to the repressive phase, we will pass there, as with any measure, since the beginning of the epidemic, there is no change compared to that “.
Finally, in relation to the duration of this measure, “There is no time limit, it is valid until the moment it is withdrawn. We will do it when the experts tell us that indeed we can go back“.
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