While a new Security Council is to take place this Wednesday, after which the federal government will announce the measures that will be applied in the coming weeks, the virologist Marc Van Ranst, who is part of the GEES (the group on the exit strategy of crisis set up by the government), answered a few questions this Tuesday evening in the television news of our Flemish colleagues from VTM.
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Here are his answers on a few key points:
> France will remain in strict confinement until May 11. Will it be the same with us?“From the start, we anticipated that the measures could apply from here until early May (the government had announced that the measures taken until April 19 could be automatically extended until May 3, editor’s note). It is therefore logical that we continue on the path we have decided. We are Belgium and not France, ”says Marc Van Ranst.
> Should we generalize the wearing of masks for citizens? “When we are at the start of an exit strategy, it will obviously go through masks. Because we will have more people outside and respecting social distancing will be more difficult ”.
> What about schools? “The schools will not open for the next few days. Schools need more preparation time (…) There are different scenarios (…) But there is no conclusive decision yet because the necessary analyzes have not yet been done. In any case, observing the rule of social distancing in schools will be very difficult to maintain. The younger the children, the more difficult it is to do so. What is possible in banks, for example, is much more difficult to set up within the confines of a classroom. “
> Will garden centers be able to reopen in a few days? “It is a decision that will be made tomorrow. There are many good reasons for doing so, but also a number of reasons for not doing it. It will therefore be a political decision. We will see “.
> What about the long vacation? “It will probably be a vacation period like we have never experienced before. But we also want to avoid crowded beaches. “
> As in France, could all mass events be canceled until mid-July? “This is the chronicle of an announced cancellation. No one will be surprised (…) ”, he said. But nothing has been decided yet and nothing is yet clear for the events of this summer. “We can still go in several different directions”.
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