The next meeting of Belgium's Consultative Committee, charged with the country's coronavirus fighting measures, will take place on Friday 8 January, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced on Sunday.
Although the coronavirus figures in Belgium continue to evolve in a positive direction, it is still too early to relax the measures, he warned. "I would like to give some perspectives, but giving false hope would be even worse," he said again.
The numbers of infections, hospital admissions and deaths continue to fall, but there are still some "points of attention", De Croo noted. In particular, he mentioned the British variant of the virus, "to which we must pay attention and which is also particularly contagious among young people". He also pointed out the impact of the return of travellers from a red zone and the Christmas and New Year's Eve(s), which we must remain vigilant.
The Prime Minister did not want to answer questions on a possible relaxation of the measures. "If the figures continue to move in the right direction in the coming weeks, it is logical that we start talking about relaxing," he acknowledged. "Give us a few more days, maybe a week, to look at those numbers."
A new meeting of the consultation committee is in any case scheduled for Friday, 8 January, he said.
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Finally, regarding the vaccination campaign, Alexander De Croo defended the choice to give priority to vulnerable people. It will then be the turn of the other target groups.
Asked about the speed of the vaccination, the head of government replied that it was being done at the pace of production and availability of vaccines. "It's logistically a very complex operation, in which millions of people will eventually have to be vaccinated. It has to be done in an organized and safe way, under ideal conditions for all.
The Brussels Times
