> It is the East Flemish answer to the many alarm bells ringing from local mayors and medical experts in the first-line zones. But Wednesday afternoon at the crisis meeting of all the provincial governors the same sound will be heard: the federal government must intervene again.
>
> To avoid a bidding war on local measures later, the governors are pushing for a national tightening. ‘The system is creaking at the seams. It is clear that something must be done and that it would be best if we had uniform measures at the federal level again,’ says West Flanders provincial governor Carl Decaluwé.
>
> ——-
>
> A week ago, the Consultation Committee decided that a lockdown or closures were out of the question. But the figures announced by Sciensano on Tuesday already show an expanding corona crisis. One-third (654) of all intensive care beds were already occupied by Monday, so the fourth wave is going faster for now than in the most pessimistic scenario that UAntwerpen and UHasselt made for the Consultation Committee.
>
> The fact that it is going so fast has everything to do with the continuing number of infections, which, with a daily average of 15,448, are flirting with the official daily record in the corona crisis. Biostatistician Geert Molenberghs speaks of “incredible” figures. A concrete consequence is that the system of testing and tracing can barely keep up.
>
> ———
>
> Erika Vlieghe, the president of the Gems expert group, feared last week that the “minimum package” decided on by the Consultation Committee would not be enough. The question is, for example, to what extent the obligation to telecommute will be properly complied with. Federal Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Ahead) also threatened a “total lockdown” if last week’s measures were not properly implemented.
>
> Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
I expect that new restrictions now will hit a lot harder than if they were announced last week
Let’s see if any of the politicians will have the guts to go this far again right at the time when families meet for the end of the year. They do know people will refuse and not bother to follow the orders / lockdowns anyway …
3 comments
> It is the East Flemish answer to the many alarm bells ringing from local mayors and medical experts in the first-line zones. But Wednesday afternoon at the crisis meeting of all the provincial governors the same sound will be heard: the federal government must intervene again.
>
> To avoid a bidding war on local measures later, the governors are pushing for a national tightening. ‘The system is creaking at the seams. It is clear that something must be done and that it would be best if we had uniform measures at the federal level again,’ says West Flanders provincial governor Carl Decaluwé.
>
> ——-
>
> A week ago, the Consultation Committee decided that a lockdown or closures were out of the question. But the figures announced by Sciensano on Tuesday already show an expanding corona crisis. One-third (654) of all intensive care beds were already occupied by Monday, so the fourth wave is going faster for now than in the most pessimistic scenario that UAntwerpen and UHasselt made for the Consultation Committee.
>
> The fact that it is going so fast has everything to do with the continuing number of infections, which, with a daily average of 15,448, are flirting with the official daily record in the corona crisis. Biostatistician Geert Molenberghs speaks of “incredible” figures. A concrete consequence is that the system of testing and tracing can barely keep up.
>
> ———
>
> Erika Vlieghe, the president of the Gems expert group, feared last week that the “minimum package” decided on by the Consultation Committee would not be enough. The question is, for example, to what extent the obligation to telecommute will be properly complied with. Federal Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Ahead) also threatened a “total lockdown” if last week’s measures were not properly implemented.
>
> Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
I expect that new restrictions now will hit a lot harder than if they were announced last week
Let’s see if any of the politicians will have the guts to go this far again right at the time when families meet for the end of the year. They do know people will refuse and not bother to follow the orders / lockdowns anyway …