Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst has once again spoken out on Twitter, this time because it is a "dangerous strategy" to minimise the coronavirus figures in Brussels, according to him.
Jean-Luc Gala, epidemiologist and head of the Saint-Luc University Hospital in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert (in Brussels) said that he did "not see the slightest sign of a second coronavirus wave", that "there is no increase in the number of Covid-19 patients", and that "the measures are needlessly destroying our economy."
VUB professor of General Medicine, Dirk Devroey, however, stated that the Brussels-Capital Region had never before counted so many new cases per week. Last week, 1,003 new cases were registered in the Region, compared to the maximum of 985 during the first wave, he said.
Brussels gewest telde nooit eerder zoveel gevallen per week: 1003. Tijdens de 1e golf bedroeg het max 985 per week. https://t.co/aiVWdscpzZ pic.twitter.com/5yIDI3ictn
— dirk_devroey (@dokter_devroey) August 22, 2020
Van Ranst confirmed that the number of new coronavirus infections in Brussels continues to rise. "Half of the new hospitalisations in our country take place in the municipalities of Brussels," he said. "It is a dangerous strategy to minimise the Brussels figures."
He then went on to say that Gala's statements "did not help."
Momenteel (cijfers 20/8) ligt meer dan 1 op 3 van de Belgische covid-patiënten (102/303) in een Brussels ziekenhuis. Van de 82 patiënten op Intensieve zorgen liggen er 26 in Brussel. Het is een gezondheidsgevaarlijke strategie om de Brusselse cijfers te minimaliseren. (3/3)
— Marc Van Ranst (@vanranstmarc) August 22, 2020
Earlier, Van Ranst had already reacted to Gala, after the latter had claimed that there was no second wave at all, but that the higher infection rates were purely due to the fact that more tests were being carried out.
On Friday evening, Van Ranst told VTM News that a second wave was definitely occurring. "Those more than 300 people in the hospital are part of the second wave. We still have hundreds of new cases a day. Internationally speaking, that's a lot."
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
