The schedule for relaxations of the coronavirus fighting measures in Belgium should not change, despite the worsening of figures, according to federal minister of the self-employed David Clarinval.
Tuesday’s daily figures showed daily infections and hospital admissions are on to rise across the country, however, Clarinval said this can't affect the relaxation schedule.
“The increase in epidemiological figures currently observed follows the evolution of the curves expected in the projections made by the experts. We should stick to the expected dates to relax measures,” he told La Libre.
Currently, Belgium has over 500 coronavirus patients in intensive care units, according to the latest official figures published by the Sciensano public health institute.
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These figures are "very disturbing" and should "serve as more than an alarm signal," according to Federal Public Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke,
He added that considering opening the terraces of bars and restaurants now was out of the question.
Virologist Marc Van Ranst took to Twitter to express concerns about the number of infections and the link to the spread of the British variant, saying the figures were not evolving well at all, and that he “was worried.”
He added that this is an important moment to monitor the current measures very closely.
During the next Consultative Committee, scheduled for 26 March, the next phase of the relaxation of measures will be discussed, which includes full classroom teaching starting on 29 March for the 3rd and 4th grades of secondary schools and the restart of the hospitality industry from 1 May.
Lauren Walker
The Brussels Times
