Crisis meeting in Belgium this Monday. The Belgian authorities convened a National Security Council at 9 a.m. to consider additional national measures in the face of the increase in coronavirus cases.
"The rapid increase in the number of cases is worrying," Professor Frédérique Jacobs, who heads the infectious diseases clinic at the Erasme hospital in Brussels, said at a press conference on Monday.
Ziekenhuisopnames volgen stijging van COVID-19 infectieshttps: //t.co/uZwYWA8FRE
Number of hospital admissions tracks increase in number of COVID-19 infections https://t.co/ysAf3CdqIJ#COVID19 # COVID19be pic.twitter.com/qJ4qNRQKFK
The province of Antwerp in the sights
She stressed that the situation was particularly problematic in the province of Antwerp, which recorded 47% of new infections last week. Measures have been taken locally to try to contain the epidemic.
But "the number of infections is also increasing considerably in the rest of the country," added Frederique Jacobs. On average, 279 people per day acquired a Covid-19 infection in the past week, up from 163 the previous week. And the “alarm threshold” (of 20 additional contaminations per 100,000 inhabitants in one week) was exceeded in 101 municipalities, underlines SudInfo.
"Most infections still occur in the working population, that is to say people aged 20 to 59 years", underlined the specialist.
"Adjust our behavior"
"It will take some time to put the situation in order and for that we will all have to adjust our behavior," she insisted.
"It is undeniably a worrying curve that is emerging at the moment," said a spokesperson for the National Crisis Center, Antoine Iseux, during the press conference. But "together, we can prevent this wave from surging," he added.
Reinforced measures since Saturday
Reinforced measures came into force on Saturday, in particular the compulsory wearing of masks in high-traffic areas, such as markets, flea markets, shopping streets, hotels, restaurants and cafes.
The mask was already compulsory since July 11 in public transport, shops, cinemas, places of worship or even museums and libraries.
Belgians, who are currently allowed to see 15 people per week, could see this reduced "contact bubble" on Monday.
The country had 66,026 cases listed since the start of the pandemic and 9,821 deaths on Monday. The death of a three-year-old girl, the youngest victim in Belgium, was announced on Friday. The child presented with several associated pathologies.
Belgium is one of the countries with the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 compared to its population, with 85 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. The census, by the Belgian authorities, of the deaths from the coronavirus is one of the most exhaustive in the world since the deaths possibly linked to the virus are included without this having been proven by a test.
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Belgium: Three-year-old girl dies of Covid-19
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Coronavirus: Belgium hardens its measures in the face of the increase in cases
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