On Thursday evening, the National Security Council announced a series of important restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Among these, catering establishments had to close their doors.
The federal authorities therefore ordered the restaurants to be closed until April 3. However, the measures implemented during the night from Friday to Saturday are not respected by the entire population.
Invited to the set of It’s not every day on Sunday, Bertrand Caroy, inspector, head of the traffic service at the Boreal police, explained that the police were mobilized to enforce these measures. “You should know that the police have put more teams on the ground precisely to ensure compliance with the rules that have been applied“, explained Bertand Caroy.
On Saturday evening, a team of Reporters journalists went to a Walloon restaurant to see if this rule was taken seriously in the establishment. After a first refusal, the journalists insisted with the boss who ended up giving in to their request.
“We must absolutely listen”
Is this behavior really risky? For the infectious disease specialist Yves Van Laethem, in this case, “it is clear that this table had no risk of contamination unless people were still present outside beforehand. The principle is to teach people that it should not be done anymore. Occasionally, for this case, I think there were no risks involved really“, specified the infectiologist at CHU Saint-Pierre.
“A table of two is against the law, but the risk here was zero. But with several tables, we arrive at something that is at risk“, insisted Yves Van Laethem.
“If everyone respects the measures implemented, we will save weeks in the course of the disease. Everyone absolutely has to think of the other. Don’t think about yourself and say ‘I’m going to challenge the virus’, it’s no use“, explained the inspector.” We must absolutely listen to and pay attention to hygiene measures and respect the standards that are in force, “added the head of the traffic service to the police from the borough. The latter specifies that in his area , he did not find such cases.
Bertand Caroy, said that if the police find this kind of behavior, “automatically the person will be fined“.”Currently, warnings are given. So we meet the traders, we explain the situation to them and we listen to them especially (…) But if the person does not understand, he will be verbalized. We also have to face rallies. As the cafes are closed, it is necessary to avoid that certain young people gather in certain places to party. The police have to watch it all“, said the inspector.
A number of Belgians went to bars, restaurants and open shops in neighboring countries, notably in France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
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