Corona infections are increasing exponentially, hospitals are gearing up for a new wave of covid patients. However, epidemiologist Pierre Van Damme does not want to speak of a closure of the catering industry. ‘We have to be creative again and limit contacts,’ he says in ‘To the matter’.
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‘Ultimately it is up to politicians to decide on the measures,’ says biostatistician Geert Molenberghs clearly To the point. But the experts agree: things have to change to ensure that we have less contact with each other. Last week, Belgium was the fifth worst country in Europe, now only the Czech Republic is doing worse in terms of new infections.
Nobody likes the word lockdown. Neither in politics, nor the experts, nor the public, ‘says Van Damme. ‘But we must ensure that we have less contact with each other.’ He believes, for example, that more remote work should be done again if possible, and states that many lessons in higher education can take place online.
Equal game rules
Cafés in Brussels have to close their doors for a month. It shouldn’t get that far everywhere, says Van Damme. ‘We can live with catering establishments where we equate the rules of the game for the cafes with restaurants: with four at the table, closing at 11 pm. Then we have something verifiable and achievable. ‘
‘For example, the catering industry does not have to go back into a complete lockdown and it is a situation of survival for them,’ he says. He also calls for winter terraces to be allowed. ‘The city can go along with this as a kind of compensation for the catering industry. Such a winter terrace can pay off almost all day long. We have to be very creative again to look for solutions. ‘
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