The Regional Security Council of the Brussels Region met today in view of the increase in Covid-19 cases in Brussels. This Council brings together the regional authorities and the mayors of the 19 municipalities.
Together, they were to consider measures to be taken in order to slow down the spread of the virus that is spreading in the capital. The most affected municipality is Saint-Gilles with, according to the latest figures, a rate of 70 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Only the municipalities of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and Watermael-Boitsfort are below the alert threshold of 20 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Rudi Vervoort (PS), the Brussels Minister-President recalled all the precautionary measures to avoid the spread of the virus: “Respect physical distancing, wear the mask, respect the instructions allowing to go up the chains of contamination and respect the quarantine if this is necessary “.
Will wearing a mask soon be compulsory everywhere in Brussels?
According to the Minister President in the Brussels Region, the number of contaminations amounted on average last week to 38 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. If this number exceeds 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 7 days, then wearing a mask will be compulsory throughout the region. 50 cases per 100,000 inhabitants mean an uncontrolled situation of the spread of the virus according to Sciensano’s criteria.
Rudi Vervoort wants to be reassuring and explains that the situation in Brussels is not comparable to that of Antwerp. The minister president concedes that there are “clusters” in the Region but that + -60% of positive cases cannot be linked to these “clusters”.
The majority of cases affect 20-49 year olds, most of whom are under 30 years old. The disease therefore circulates a lot among young people, “Although severe cases of the disease are rare in young people, they are still a possible transmitter of the disease. We must be careful that the disease is not shared among the most fragile populations, it is a risk that we cannot afford to run“, ajoute Rudi Vervoort.
“The increase in hospitalizations remains contained, it is progressing much slower than in March. In 20 days in July, hospitalizations doubled while in March in 20 days, they were 50 times greater in the same lapse of time so we are not at all in the same proportion “, explains the Minister President
Rudi Vervoort did not fail to point out that this upsurge in cases is not unique to Brussels: “It is not particular to Brussels, even if some make it an almost clinical point of obsession. All over the world these are areas with high population density and therefore in large cities. There is a particular situation in Antwerp but we also see that in Charleroi, Liège, Verviers or Ghent we are witnessing a greater increase in cases.“.
He finally says the test target will be doubling capacity by September.
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