The Flemish government will organise an additional ministerial council on Tuesday at 6:00 PM to decide on possible additional coronavirus measures, Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon announced on Monday.
Jambon faced criticism as he said on Sunday that the Flemish government would not take measures in addition to those decided at a national level last week.
Recent developments made Jambon change his mind. “The figures continue to evolve unfavourably, and over the past few hours the virologists have formulated additional advice,” he commented, adding that governors had also noted additional problems at a local level.
The core of the Flemish government already met on Monday morning, according to Het Laatste Nieuws, and the government will continue discussions with virologists, governors and economic representatives, both Het Laatste Nieuws and the VRT report.
“We are monitoring developments from hour to hour and will continue to do everything necessary to contain the further spread of the virus,” Jambon said.
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Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has welcomed Flanders' extra ministerial council. "As a country, we must not allow ourselves to be divided in the fight against the virus," he said. "We will only defeat the virus if we all do what is necessary together."
With 132,618 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, Flanders represents 41.3% of all confirmed cases in the country, figures by the Sciensano public health institute show.
In total, Belgium now stands at 321,031 confirmed coronavirus cases.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
