After all the criticism that Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke (SP.A) had to swallow about the closure of the shops, he released the advice of the Celeval and the RAG at the end of October.
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“For the affected stores, this was indeed a very difficult decision, which we did not like to take,” said a statement from the minister.
‘We understand well the question of the justification for this decision. On October 30th, we were in a real emergency, as explained in the advice we then received from the Rag and from Celeval. It was necessary to take measures that would quickly and as much as possible reduce the number of contacts and movements, and that would minimize the risks of contamination. That is why it was decided to close the non-essential stores as well. ‘
Vandenbroucke is now publishing those advice to end the discussion about how the decision was made. In To the point he said Friday night that this was only happening to create a shock effect. Something he is now forced to nuance. All day long, various parties – from opposition and majority – have been targeting him after that ruling.
Belgium had the highest incidence in Europe on October 28 and the situation in the hospitals was very worrying. That is why the Rag, risk assessment group, was of the opinion that a sanitary emergency should be declared.
The Celeval, the evaluation unit, advised on October 29 to limit social contacts to one hug contact. “No visits to family or friends at home.” The advice states that all social contacts had to be greatly reduced in the period from 1 to 14 November, but there was no consensus on how this should be done. Two options were given, forbidding non-essential relocations and closing non-essential shops and whether to establish a five or ten kilometer perimeter around the house, as was the case in France. A majority (16) was in favor of the closure of the stores, two members of the Celeval were against.
According to Vandenbroucke, the Consultation Committee’s decision was less strict than Celeval’s proposals, but the closing of non-essential stores was followed.
Advice Celeval by The standard on Scribd
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