Belgium’s Consultative Committee decided that, despite the slight improvements in the country’s coronavirus situation, the current lockdown measures will stay in place for at least two more weeks.
During a videoconference meeting on Friday afternoon, the Committee established that Belgium is still in a state of sanitary emergency, which is why the current measures will not be relaxed yet.
“Especially given the reopening of the schools on Monday 16 November, extreme caution continues to be required,” a statement by Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo stated.
Het Overlegcomité heeft deze middag de epidemiologische situatie besproken.
Ondanks de lichte verbeteringen blijft de situatie bijzonder ernstig en heeft het Overlegcomité beslist de bestaande maatregelen aan te houden.
— Alexander De Croo ???????????????? (@alexanderdecroo) November 13, 2020
“The situation in hospitals gives a mixed picture,” the statement read. “While the number of new hospital admissions, as well as the total number of patients admitted, is decreasing slightly, the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care has been on a plateau since last week.”
Although the number of infections is decreasing slightly, the virus remains widespread with a 14-day cumulative incidence of 1,232 confirmed infections per 100,000 inhabitants per day, the Committee said.
Additionally, the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 is still on the rise, with an average of approximately 200 deaths per day over the past week.
According to estimates based on these figures, the incidence and hospital admissions show that, within 14 days, all provinces will still be in Covid-19 alert phase 4.
The next Consultative Committee is scheduled for Friday 27 November.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
