Belgium returns to lockdown: “These are heavy measures, it’s the last chance”

BRUSSELS – Belgium is also back in lockdown: from Monday to December 13 empty offices and generalized smart working, tight shops and autumn school holidays extended until November 15 after the government closed restaurants and bars two weeks ago and imposed a night curfew . “These are heavy measures, they are the measures of the last chance”, explained the premier Alexander De Croo in the evening after a river meeting of the Emergency Committee. Illustrating the restrictions, reminiscent of those imposed on Wednesday by Emmanuel Macron in France, the government added: “We want to avoid finding ourselves in a situation where doctors will have to choose between who lives and who dies.”

In this second wave of Covid, Belgium is the European country with the highest rate of infections, 1,390 per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. The number of daily hospitalizations has now exceeded those of the peak in March and in some areas of the country, such as in Liege, the health authorities have ordered doctors with asymptomatic coronavirus sickness to return to the ward to treat the sick.

Between 20 and 26 October the country recorded an average of 15,316 new cases of Covid-19 per day, with a 38% increase in a nation with just 11.5 million inhabitants. With the number of infected people probably even higher since due to the shortage of tampons, asymptomatic patients are no longer tested. In the same period, an average of 79 people died per day (+ 43.9%), causing the number of deaths attributed to coronavirus since the start of the pandemic to rise to 11,308. Admissions reached a daily average of 618 between 23 and 30 October, an increase of 77%. ICU places are nearing exhaustion.

“We want confinement, not isolation,” said De Croo, explaining that each family unit can have contact with only one person, always the same, during the lockdown. Singles will be able to see two, but not at the same time. Outside, only groups of four are allowed. Trips abroad are not recommended. A maximum of 15 people can attend the funeral, but without a reception. However, the government wanted to clarify that this is a real confinement: “It’s hard, it’s a lockdown”, underlined the Minister of Health. Frank Vandenbroucke.

The lockdown will also affect the European institutions in Brussels, the epicenter of the second wave of infections. The European Parliament continues to work thanks to the efforts of David Sassoli, which managed to organize jobs in constant remote mode. The European Council, the forum of governments, has already cut virtually all physical meetings and the European Commission – the EU executive – will return to almost total smart working as in spring.

Although with slightly different nuances, in addition to Belgium, France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Ireland have already returned to lockdown. Sebastian Kurz’s Austria could also join the group over the weekend.

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