Commenting on Belgium's rising coronavirus infection rate, Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon stated that the Consultative Committee can meet to discuss new measures at an hour's notice if necessary.
Jambon's statement followed the announcement by Carina Van Cauter, the governor of East Flanders, that the province will ban all non-professional parties and celebrations in the coming month.
"The governor is now taking very specific measures here," he said on Flemish radio on Wednesday. "Strictly speaking, that is the governor's decision but I wonder if the figures in East Flanders are that much worse than elsewhere."
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For Jambon, the best course of action is to wait to see the effect of the measures that have been taken at the national level before introducing supplementary measures.
"But it is a fact - and we knew it - that the figures continue to rise. We monitor this on a daily basis. And when it is necessary, there will be a new Consultative Committee," he said.
At the previous meeting in mid-November, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced that the current measures would remain in force until the end of January, but that the Committee will meet again early next year.
"There is enough flexibility, as the past has shown. If necessary, the Consultative Committee can meet within the hour," Jambon said.
Still, he called on the provincial governors and mayors to keep a level head. "The figures are rising, but I now see that a lot of things are being spontaneously cancelled and that people are spontaneously being a lot more cautious after last week's Consultative Committee," Jambon said. "It will take 10 to 14 days before we see the effects of [the measures]."
