People who had a high-risk contact with a Covid-19 patient should be able to get tested again in the second half of November, the Crisis Centre said on Monday.
The expansion of the testing strategy should take place "when the new platform that should help clinical laboratories will be fully implemented to potentially extend testing to more than 100,000 per day," Yves Van Laethem said.
People who could no longer be tested, after a high-risk contact for example, because the system was overloaded, will therefore be able to get tested again by next week.
"It is essential, after this second wave, to detect cases in society and isolate them so that they do not transmit the disease," Van Laethem continued.
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In the meantime, the rules for quarantine and isolation remain the same.
The rules were adapted from 21 October until at least 15 November, as the country was running out of testing material, faced long lines at testing centres and saw increased pressure on laboratories.
For now, only people displaying Covid-19 symptoms, people admitted to hospital, and those in residential care centres can get tested.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
