A group of 35 scientists, including biostatistician Geert Molenberghs and microbiologist Emannuel André, sounded the alarm in an open letter. “There is a need for an immediate lockdown nationwide.”
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35 scientists, including biostatisticians Geert Molenberghs and Kurt Barbé and microbiologist Emmanuel André, draw – just like the hospitals – sounded the alarm in an open letter published by The evening. At the time of writing this letter, all the indicators are showing that the virus is gaining ground day after day, hour after hour. The situation is alarming. ‘
The scientists point to the heavy pressure on hospitals, which are filling up at a rapid pace, and where regular care is also threatened. The second wave has already passed the peak of the first wave, and the outlook is pessimistic. We are on a ship that already has a dangerous amount of water seeping in, ‘they warn.
The scientists see only one solution. “There is an urgent need to take immediate lockdown measures, in a balanced and proportionate way,” they write. ‘We insist that our policy makers take the same measures on a national scale. There are no three ways to view the epidemic curve. There is only one way to act. ‘
Marc Van Ranst: ‘Lockdown will look different’
Noticeable absent from the signatories is virologist Marc Van Ranst. However, he repeatedly argued for a lockdown, even today. In ‘Terzake’ he kept himself on the surface earlier on Thursday evening. “The opportunities to meet people should be even more discouraged,” he said.
The decision to proceed with a lockdown is taken by politicians, Van Ranst emphasizes, but he assures that ‘it will not look the same as in the first wave’. The closure of parks and playgrounds are not on the table, for example. Moreover, they want to keep the schools open. Van Ranst does see a possibility where only the higher years will switch to home education until the numbers have fallen to a certain point. He calls restricting people’s freedom of movement ‘a difficult decision’. Closing non-essential stores can be a way to avoid non-essential contacts.
For the virologist at KU Leuven it is clear that ‘the measures must take a long time’. 50 infections per day seems to him to be a reasonable measure to start with easing. They have to be done very carefully and gradually. ‘With such figures, the virus can be kept under control, but certainly not with almost 20,000 infections per day, as is the case today.’
Another Consultation Committee is scheduled for Friday, to consider whether stricter measures are needed. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) closed on Wednesday evening in a video message certainly does not exclude that there is another entanglement being implemented.
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