On Thursday, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo confirmed that tomorrow's Consultative Committee meeting will focus on relaxations for outdoor activities.
Outdoor activities entail a much lower risk of infection than indoor activities, De Croo stressed when answering questions in the Chamber this afternoon.
"That is why we are now putting all things together to make an 'outdoor plan', to give perspective," De Croo said, adding that the plan has to be "safe and responsible."
However, the timing of the plan is important as well, according to him. "If we do some things too early, we are going to see that this leads to a sharp increase in hospital admissions in April and May."
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As the mathematical models that were presented during De Croo's surprise press conference at the start of last week show, it would only result in very short-lived freedom.
Relaxing the measures too early is "the last thing we should do," he stressed, adding that easing measures can only happen very cautiously at a safe time.
However, De Croo stressed that "it will not be the 'outdoor plan' that will ensure that we defeat this pandemic, but the speed of the vaccinations, which will be the key."
In the run-up to the Committee meeting tomorrow, several other politicians have also called for relaxations, mainly focussing on allowing people to have more social contacts, with Joachim Coens, leader of the Christian-democrat CD&V party, pushing for a ten-person bubble for outdoor activities.
Earlier this week, virologist and member of the GEMS expert group advising the federal government Steven Van Gucht already told The Brussels Times that a cautious relaxation for outdoor activities is an option, but that a strict distinction should always be made between indoor and outdoor activities.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
