Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) has said that he isn't ruling out a relaxing of health restrictions in the days to come if the hospitalisation rate continues to fall, Belga News Agency reported.
Speaking on Sunday on the RTL-TVi programme "L'invité", De Croo commented on the Covid-19 figures that he said are moving in a "positive direction". Belgium's much-discussed coronavirus barometer was introduced at the last Consultative Committee and sets out thresholds that will determine the measures put in place to protect public health.
Belgium is currently in the red colour code but can pass to orange when daily hospital admissions for Covid-19 fall below 149 and no more than 500 beds are occupied in intensive care. With the rate of infection now below 1, the virus is losing ground in Belgium, with numbers expected to continue falling.
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Although any decision to relax measures is ultimately down to ministers – who were at pains to stress that the barometer is not simply an "autopilot" where measures change as soon as thresholds are reached – De Croo said that he sees no reason not to loosen restrictions: "Naturally we will respect the system that we put in place a couple of weeks ago."
If Belgium does indeed pass to phase orange, numerous activities and events that are currently prohibited would again become possible. These would be especially apparent in the hospitality and events sectors, where closing hours would be lifted, cinemas and theatres could welcome more people, and concerts and nightclubs could open again.
