No Steven Van Gucht on Monday at the restart of the press conferences with a state of affairs about the corona virus in our country. Van Gucht – who had been working continuously for months – has been on vacation for a while. During his absence, he was replaced by Sciensano colleague Boudewijn Catry.
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The professor and doctor – who studied veterinary medicine just like Van Gucht and who was also active as a veterinarian for a while – is responsible for the department of healthcare associated infections and antibiotic resistance at the scientific health institute. It is in this capacity that he has been fighting for years against the so-called hospital bacteria, which causes more victims than traffic with around 3,000 deaths a year in our country.
Catry – who teaches epidemiology at the French-speaking university ULB – has also been closely involved in the fight against the corona virus in recent weeks. At a hearing in the Flemish Parliament last week, for example, he argued for a system in which the entrance door of a residential care center does not open to visitors until they have actually disinfected their hands. Catry – by the way, not a meritorious musician in his spare time – also came to the conclusion that just over 1,000 people probably contracted the coronavirus in the hospital, despite the very strict prevention measures there.
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