The Eurostar terminal at the Gare du Midi in Brussels was empty on December 21.

Four cases of the variant, repeated in the United Kingdom, were detected in Belgium in early December.

-

AFP

Four cases of contamination with the new variant of the coronavirus circulating in the United Kingdom were detected in Belgium "at the beginning of December", we learned Tuesday from the Belgian health authorities, confirming information from the country's media.

"Not impossible that there are more"

"Four cases were detected in early December, a fortnight ago," Yves Van Laethem, interfederal spokesperson for the fight against the coronavirus in Belgium, told AFP.

"It's not much, but it is not impossible that there are more," he added.

"Like many countries, we do not track as many strains as the English who do a huge job at this level", explained this doctor specializing in infectious diseases.

According to him, England carries out 10 to 20 times more “typing” of virus strains than Belgium.

This expert wonders about the usefulness of closing borders with the United Kingdom, decided by most European countries.

"Isn't the enemy already among us?"

I don't know, but it's not impossible, ”says Yves Van Laethem.

"This closure was perhaps already too late since we started to find cases of this English strain in September," he continued.

The four cases identified in Belgium are of Belgian nationality, according to him.

A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Health clarified that among them, three had been detected in East Flanders (north-east) and another in West Flanders (north-west).

In the country, three laboratories are carrying out in-depth analyzes of the strain of the virus.

Since early December, no other cases have been reported.

The Ministry of Health has asked experts to make proposals on the advisability of carrying out more of this type of analysis, the spokesperson told AFP.

The emergence in the United Kingdom of a new variant of the coronavirus, suspected of being more contagious than others, is causing concern.

The European branch of the World Health Organization (WHO) called on Sunday to strengthen controls to better detect possible cases of the new variant.

According to the WHO, similar forms have been detected in very low numbers in Australia (one case), Denmark (9), the Netherlands (1) or South Africa.

Italy also announced a first case detected on Sunday.

Society

Coronavirus: What do we know about the new strain of the virus that has appeared in the United Kingdom?

Health

Coronavirus: Should France be worried about the Covid-19 variant detected in the United Kingdom?

  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Health

  • Society

  • United Kingdom