As the Prime Minister explained this Thursday, August 20, the current situation must be qualified. “It is neither dramatic nor insignificant,” said Sophie Wilmès after the National Security Council. This is why the Liberal insisted that clear explanations be given to the population in order to better understand the evolution of the situation. This is what the Crisis Center and the SPF Public Health do every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On August 21, the experts returned to the latest data related to the coronavirus epidemic and the conclusions to be drawn from them.
Steven Van Gucht and Frédérique Jacobs, interfederal spokespersons, began by reviewing the various indicators. In terms of the average number of contaminations, Belgium recorded a decrease of 21% compared to the previous week. “We note that the number of contaminations is decreasing in all the provinces”, affirmed Mrs. Jacobs, stressing all the same a slight increase in the Brussels-Capital Region. However, the reproduction rate of the virus (R) has fallen in Brussels: it has fallen below the 1 bar. It is now also below this level at the national level. “This indicates that the situation is going in the right direction,” said Steven Van Gucht. In terms of hospitalizations, we also notice a slight decrease.
Update on testing and tracing
Karine Moykens, head of the testing and tracing committee, then reviewed the evolution of the services put in place to deal with the coronavirus epidemic. “A good follow-up of contacts is an important additional tool,” said Ms. Moykens straight away, who recalled how testing and tracing worked.
The president of the testing committee insisted on the need to respect the rules, especially for travelers returning from the red zone. “At present, 1,200 people return from a red zone on average every day,” she added.
–
Presenting the contact follow-up figures, she expressed some regret. “Contaminated people are now contacted much more quickly by tracing, but some are still too cautious to pass on the names of their contacts,” said Moykens. “The purpose of contact tracing is only to inform people who have been in contact with an infected person. Tracing collaborators are very discreet about the data they collect.” Informing people yourself is not enough, she says. Indeed, in this case, the people concerned would not receive the code so that they can be tested and, subsequently, the tracing could not act.
“A collective victory”
The epidemiological situation is improving according to experts. “Our efforts are starting to bear fruit,” said Antoine Iseux, spokesperson for the Crisis Center. It is thanks to your action that the situation remains under control in hospitals, it is without a doubt a victory. collective. We won this stage, but we must keep in mind that we are aiming for the final victory. ”
–
He then returned to the National Security Council on Thursday, August 20. “The decisions presented yesterday will know details explained in the legislative text to be published later,” he said.
–
“The last few months have shown us that we can adapt. Learning to live with this virus and adapt our behavior in the face of it is the only thing we can do,” concluded Mr. Iseux.
Questions answers
Do electronic cigarettes represent a danger in terms of contamination?
There is no scientific evidence that they are involved in the spread of the virus.
What do you think of the resumption of youth movements in September? Will 50-person bubbles remain valid?
These activities can continue (just like sport) and bring together up to 50 people, provided that accompanying measures are put in place by the organizers. They have a protocol that they must follow to ensure everyone’s safety.
Among the new cases of the rebound, young people were mainly affected. Is this trend also reflected in hospitalizations and deaths?
–
According to data from Wednesday’s Sciensano report on hospitalizations, it is seen that in the first period (March -> June), 50% of people were 71 years or older. In the more recent period (which involves fewer hospitalized patients), we see that 50% of people are over 65 years old. There is therefore indeed a “rejuvenation” of the hospitalized population. One of the reasons for this is that fewer people are transferred from nursing homes.
–
Yesterday, the ECDC placed Wallonia in dark orange, this morning it placed Brussels in red, the highest alert level, while the figures are down in Belgium. What is it?
The ECDC classifies countries / regions according to a criterion which is the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants for the last 14 days. Depending on these criteria, it gives a color. Brown is between 60 and 120 contaminations per 100,000 inhabitants (for 14 days), which corresponds to the figures for Belgium. Dark brown corresponds to a level higher than 120, which is the case for Brussels. Please note, this does not correspond to the colors established for the regions / countries of Belgian Foreign Affairs (which must be consulted if you wish to go on vacation abroad). Changes will also be made this afternoon to the list of countries in the green, orange and red zone.
–
–
