Infectious disease specialist Erika Vlieghe is leaving the National Security Council (NSC), she announced Friday evening on Flemish television.
Vlieghe is the head of the infectious diseases department at Antwerp University hospital and chairs the Group of Experts for an Exit Strategy (GEES).
Vlieghe said that her decision had to do with a statement by Flemish minister-president Jan Jambon, who had wrongly claimed that Vlieghe supported the decisions taken by the NSC on Thursday. "That is completely unacceptable for me," Vlieghe reacted to Jambon's claim.
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The NSC decided that the so-called social bubble should be kept at 15, while experts, including Erika Vlieghe, advocated reducing it to 10.
Particularly irritated by Jambon's erroneous statements, Vlieghe had threatened to leave as GEES president. In the end, she decided to no longer participate in the NSC meetings but remains at the head of the GEES.
The next National Security Council meeting will be on Friday, various sources told Belga News Agency. Vlieghe had criticism about that as well. "Now we have to evaluate every day. Even this weekend. It is perfectly possible to take new measures with advancing insight," she said.
The Brussels Times
