LIVE | Johnson examines possible new British lockdown | Inland

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is thinking about imposing new national lockdown measures next week. Hospitals in the country are at risk of being inundated with patients due to a resurgence of the coronavirus. That reports the British newspaper The Times. The new measures would be introduced on Wednesday and remain in effect until December 1.

Johnson is expected to hold a press conference on Monday to announce the new restrictions. These may include closing everything except essential stores and “educational establishments such as schools and universities,” the paper writes.

Belgium is further restricting public life

Health experts and hospitals had begged for it and Belgian politicians now admit: Belgium is also going into lockdown again. According to Prime Minister De Croo, the increasing trend in the number of infections must be reversed quickly in order not to allow healthcare to collapse.

The purpose of the ‘tightened lockdown’ is to minimize the number of unnecessary contacts. To this end, all non-essential stores will close, as in March and April. A visit to the hairdresser or beautician is also no longer possible for the next six weeks. Only one person may be received at home, while outside may still be arranged with four others. Teleworking will be mandatory. To the relief of many Belgians, travel restrictions do not come.

“Our country is in a sanitary emergency. Aid workers are making superhuman efforts, ”De Croo said at a press conference last night. He expects 10,000 corona patients in Belgian hospitals around mid-November.

On Thursday, the hospitals gave a joint cry for help. Introduce a lockdown because we can no longer handle the work, was the message to politicians. In total, there are almost 6,200 corona patients in the hospital, over a thousand of whom are in intensive care. That is more than half of the number of IC beds available throughout Belgium. Moreover, the number of deaths is increasing rapidly. From 20 to 26 October, an average of 79 Belgians died from Covid-19 per day.

At the top of corona list

Belgium has now surpassed the Czech Republic in terms of the number of infections per 100,000 inhabitants and is at the top of the European ranking. On average, more than 15,000 patients per day were added in a week, but in reality this is more because the testing strategy has recently changed: people without symptoms are no longer allowed to have themselves tested. Virologist Steven Van Gucht of Sciensano, the Belgian RIVM, has calculated that the number of infections is in reality probably 18 percent higher.

Prime Minister De Croo urged his countrymen to follow the rules, even though it will be a difficult time for many. “We will only get through this period if we fight this battle together.”

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Watch the corona news here Thursday 29 October

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