This Tuesday, the Belgian government reinstated some of the pandemic-control restrictions it lifted just a few weeks ago due to an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, and extended the compulsory health pass to the entire territory.
The number of new daily cases of the disease in Belgium, a European Union (EU) country with 11 million inhabitants, increased by 75%, reaching 5,299 cases last week.
Hospital admissions also increased by 69% to 102 cases per day. The number of deaths increased slightly, with an average of 13 per day.
“From Friday, masks will be worn in public places, and they will become mandatory for employees of bars, restaurants and gyms,” said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo. “We need to build our defensive walls,” he added.
De Croo also indicated that a covid-19 pass will be required to enter bars, restaurants and gyms starting next week. The pass proves that the person is either fully vaccinated, recently recovered from an illness, or recently tested negative.
According to the executive director of Belgium, these new restrictions are still far from introducing a new conclusion, since 85% of adult Belgians are vaccinated, so the measures should not be as drastic as those taken in the previous stages of the pandemic.
“Last year, in such a situation, we would have had to close some events. Now we keep everything open, use a health pass or wear masks, ”he said.
An aggravating factor is the high transmission rate of the virus in Belgian primary schools: the public research institute Sciensano has found that more than one in four students have antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes covid-19.
A similar debate about whether to step up the response to the pandemic is taking place in the Netherlands, where the government asked experts for advice on whether the pandemic should be reinstated given the sharp increase in new cases. disease.
The Netherlands has one of the fastest growing infection rates in Europe.
