_Belgaimage.jpg?style=W3sicmVzaXplIjp7ImZpdCI6Imluc2lkZSIsIndpZHRoIjoxMjAwLCJoZWlnaHQiOjYzMCwid2l0aG91dEVubGFyZ2VtZW50Ijp0cnVlfX0seyJqcGVnIjp7InF1YWxpdHkiOjc1fX1d&sign=1c506f8f3fa8a3d1947d1fb515571ea5db9f47dd4c17dd842e2ffe5f01b80689 "Cafés do not always ask for a corona pass: ‘Strong signal is needed’")
Updated: 26-10-2021 – 20:04
The application of the Covid Safe Ticket (CST) in Brussels must be checked more often and more strictly. “Otherwise, the measure makes no sense,” says Inge Neven of the Brussels health inspectorate. The police zones confirm that they have not yet entered any cafes to see if the manager does ask the CST. However, it should be an important weapon in the fight against the fourth corona wave.
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Since 15 October you have to show a corona certificate in cafes and restaurants, at events, at conferences, in the cinema and in the sports club. If you don’t, you won’t get access. The responsibility for the verification of the CST lies with the operators and the organizers. With sporadic checks, the Brussels police would ensure that they also effectively ask their visitors for the corona pass.
No checks yet
In particular, the CST was introduced to ensure that no more sectors have to close. “We don’t do that to piss people off. If the sanitary situation deteriorates, we will have few options but to close business again,” Inge Neven said during her weekly press conference on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we also learn that not all cafes perform the CST verification. We are in contact with the sector federation. It must give a clear signal, otherwise this measure is of no use.”
Neven also confirmed that awareness-raising activities will continue until the end of October. Inquiries with the police zones show that officers have not yet entered the cafes to check whether operators are asking their customers for the CST. “We are still in the awareness phase,” Ilse Van de Keere of the Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone summarizes the tenor. “Our agents will not be on site until November 1st.”
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According to Inge Neven, the CST will nevertheless be a necessary means to contain the fourth wave. In the meantime, this has also been deployed in the Brussels region, where the positivity ratio has risen from 6 to 8.4 percent in two weeks. With a Brussels reproduction number of 1.23, the coronavirus is gaining momentum. This is also gradually becoming apparent in hospitals, where five percent more hospitalizations have been observed in a week. A quarter of hospital beds have now been taken. “Intensive care is still not that bad, but the pressure will also increase there.”
Education as a catalyst
Most infections in Brussels occur among school-aged young people between 10 and 19 years, confirms Neven. According to biostatistics professor Niel Hens, adults’ susceptibility to the virus has fallen to the level of primary school children who have not been vaccinated. But children, on average, have many more contacts than adults, increasing their share of the epidemic. “They are not an engine, but they are a catalyst,” Neven puts it into perspective.
The education field will meet on Wednesday to see whether additional measures are needed at the schools. “Infections do indeed happen, but in Brussels that number remains fairly stable,” says Neven. “We really need to avoid taking any further measures at the expense of the children. Of course they transmit the virus, also to the vulnerable. And therein lies the risk, because we have to keep the occupancy rate in the hospitals low. But I think adults should take responsibility to protect children as much as possible.”
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© EC / BRUZZ
The most important Brussels weapon to reduce infections in education remains the vaccination. Since September 1, nearly 12,000 first shots have been administered at school, resulting in 39 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds now receiving a first dose. That was 25 percent before the start of the school year. The total vaccination rate in Brussels secondary schools is now 33 percent.
CST helps vaccination campaign some
Neven is visibly relieved that the Brussels vaccination rate is increasing slightly faster. In Brussels, 70 percent of adults now received a first dose. And there is still much to be gained, especially among the young, because only 54 percent of the total population is still fully vaccinated. “Every day we offer Brussels residents 25 to 30 opportunities to be vaccinated, spread across the Region. We will continue those local actions. The ceiling has not yet been reached,” says Neven.
In October, the number of appointments made in the vaccination centers for a first dose increased by 25 percent compared to September. Last week, 11,400 first shots were also taken. That is a quarter more than the week before and that is how the CST seems to have an effect. In addition, 8,900 second doses and 9,800 booster doses were also administered. “It is going slowly, but people are gradually being convinced.”
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