The National Security Council will meet on Thursday about the corona measures for the month of September, when the new school year starts. Major easing does not appear to be on the agenda, with an incidence in our country that is still the fifth highest in Europe.
The National Security Council will meet on Thursday from 9 am. Still, it doesn’t look like major easing is on the way.
“ Last week, the choice was made very clearly nationally to give priority to education and to open it up as much as possible, ” said Erika Vlieghe, chair of the GEES, the expert group that assists the government in taking appropriate corona measures, on Tuesday. ‘The morning’ on Radio 1. ‘You can’t divide a cake into endless pieces. If you open something up, you have to balance it with a number of other things. ‘
Vlieghe made the statements against a background of contamination figures that seem to be stabilizing. Nevertheless, the incidence in our country is still almost 70 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days. That is the fifth highest figure in Europe, after Spain, Luxembourg, Malta and Romania. Countries such as Denmark and Finland therefore colored our country as a red zone.
Focus shifted to Brussels
Since the previous Security Council, the focus has shifted from Antwerp to especially Brussels, where the figures continue to rise against the national trend, albeit at a slower pace. According to GEES chairwoman Erika Vlieghe, stricter measures are needed there. Brussels minister Elke Van den Brandt (Green) has already indicated that she cannot rule out additional measures. Until now, Brussels Prime Minister Rudi Vervoort (PS) wanted to await the effect of the general mouth mask obligation, which is not always well respected in practice.
There may be a relaxation for the retailers. They sounded the alarm last week after it appeared that the summer sales were disappointing. According to them, compulsory individual shopping is one of the culprits. A relaxation to shop ‘with bubble’ is therefore possible. Minister of Self-Employed and Self-employed Denis Ducarme (MR) said he would already argue for this.
There are also relaxation on the table in the culture and events sector. The sector wants the number of people present in a room to depend on the available space. But even then, support measures remain necessary in the sector. A relaxation of the ‘bubble of five’, on the other hand, seems unlikely. It is generally believed that the previous bubble expansion, which in practice led to nearly unlimited contacts, just caused the second wave.
‘Bubble of five relax’
But especially in French-speaking Belgium, there are already voices to relax that bubble again. For example, ULB epidemiologist Yves Coppieters told the French-speaking public broadcaster RTBF that the measure could be better abolished and precautionary measures should be emphasized more.
Jean-Luc Gala, head of the Saint-Luc hospital in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, even said that the measure only ‘hates’ people and serves nothing. Gala also believes that the opinion of some experts, “especially in the north of the country, is given an extreme weight, which does not reflect the totality of the opinions of experts and doctors on the problem”.
Virologist Marc Van Ranst (KU Leuven) previously announced on Twitter that it is ‘much too early’ to enlarge the bubble again, now that the curve is falling ‘a little bit’. Steven Van Gucht, the interfederal spokesperson on the coronavirus, also said that limiting close contacts is ‘a crucial concept that remains solid.’
“It is important that the decrease in the number of new cases continues, and preferably accelerates with a view to the safest possible reopening of the schools,” said Van Gucht at the latest press conference about the corona virus.
The National Security Council will meet on Thursday from 9 am. Still, it doesn’t look like major easing is on the way. “ Last week, the choice was made very clearly nationally to give priority to education and to open it up as much as possible, ” said Erika Vlieghe, chair of the GEES, the expert group that assists the government in taking appropriate corona measures, on Tuesday. ‘The morning’ on Radio 1. ‘You can’t divide a cake into endless pieces. If you open something up, you have to balance it with a number of other things. ‘ Vlieghe made the statements against a background of contamination figures that seem to be stabilizing. Nevertheless, the incidence in our country is still almost 70 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days. That is the fifth highest figure in Europe, after Spain, Luxembourg, Malta and Romania. Countries such as Denmark and Finland therefore colored our country as a red zone. Since the previous Security Council, the focus has shifted from Antwerp to especially Brussels, where the figures continue to rise against the national trend, albeit at a slower pace. According to GEES chairwoman Erika Vlieghe, stricter measures are needed there. Brussels minister Elke Van den Brandt (Green) has already indicated that she cannot rule out additional measures. Until now, Brussels Prime Minister Rudi Vervoort (PS) wanted to await the effect of the general mouth mask obligation, which is not always well respected in practice. There may be a relaxation for the retailers. They sounded the alarm last week after it appeared that the summer sales were disappointing. According to them, compulsory individual shopping is one of the culprits. A relaxation to shop ‘with bubble’ is therefore possible. Minister of Self-Employed and Self-employed Denis Ducarme (MR) said he would already argue for this. There are also relaxation on the table in the culture and events sector. The sector wants the number of people present in a room to depend on the available space. But even then, support measures remain necessary in the sector. A relaxation of the ‘bubble of five’, on the other hand, seems unlikely. It is generally believed that the previous bubble expansion, which in practice led to nearly unlimited contacts, just caused the second wave. But especially in French-speaking Belgium, there are already voices to relax that bubble again. For example, ULB epidemiologist Yves Coppieters told the French-speaking public broadcaster RTBF that the measure could be better abolished and precautionary measures should be emphasized more. Jean-Luc Gala, head of the Saint-Luc hospital in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, even said that the measure only ‘hates’ people and serves nothing. Gala also believes that the opinion of some experts, “especially in the north of the country, is given an extreme weight, which does not reflect the totality of the opinions of experts and doctors on the problem”. Virologist Marc Van Ranst (KU Leuven) previously announced on Twitter that it is ‘much too early’ to enlarge the bubble again, now that the curve is falling ‘a little bit’. Steven Van Gucht, the interfederal spokesperson on the coronavirus, also said that limiting close contacts is ‘a crucial concept that remains solid.’ “It is important that the decrease in the number of new cases continues, and preferably accelerates with a view to the safest possible reopening of the schools,” said Van Gucht at the latest press conference about the corona virus.
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