Covid-19 in Belgium: new incomprehensible measures for the population
Passers-by wearing masks in the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium, September 15, 2020 (photo illustration).
REUTERS / Yves Herman
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Belgium will have a new government this Thursday, October 1 after twenty months of political uncertainty, but the Belgians do not expect much for the fight against the pandemic.
This Thursday morning, new measures decreed last week come into effect and which consist of a relaxation and simultaneous maintenance of various measures.
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From our correspondent in Brussels
,
Pierre Benazet
Lifting travel bans, easing the wearing of masks and the relative widening of the social bubble face the maintenance of restrictions on private events or teleworking ... These announcements above all arouse the public's lack of understanding.
While the second wave of the
pandemic is
hitting Belgium hard, wearing a mask is no longer compulsory everywhere outside, only in the densest areas.
Incomprehensible for Louis, who finds especially that the coronavirus has deprived the Belgians of freedom.
“
I think the government and the scientists are as lost as anyone.
I think they do a maximum, it's not that bad.
It pisses us off, but in their place, we wouldn't do better,
”he said.
10,000 dead bar
crossed
The ten thousand dead mark was crossed on Wednesday.
For Eric, there is no need for government to adopt a coherent behavior.
“
I'm not going to change my habit, I'm going to keep the mask on for now.
It is more in relation to common sense than in relation to the laws that are proposed,
”he says.
At the same time as the relaxation of the wearing of the mask, many restrictions remain in place and, for his part, Pierre believes that everyone must be protected: “
I did not really understand, because there is a difference between what was imposed at the federal level and then at the regional level.
And so, it is true that there was a lot of confusion at that level.
I don't find it difficult to breathe with a mask.
Suddenly, whether the state tells me that I have to wear the mask or not, I will continue to wear it.
"
For now, the government's objective has been achieved since the Belgians want to continue to wear the mask but the impression of confusion may be harmful in the long term.
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