The significant increase in coronavirus cases in Belgium in recent weeks has now resulted in the country having the highest number of cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the EU. This is the result of today’s figures from the European Epidemic Control Centre (ECDC).
With a 14-day incidence of around 1,390, the country now even ranks ahead of the Czech Republic, which is in a state of emergency (incidence of around 1,380). For comparison: According to ECDC figures, Austria has a 14-day incidence of 321. Recently, therefore, the measures in Belgium have been tightened considerably, but the figures continue to rise significantly.
Since yesterday, for example in the capital Brussels, there is again a general obligation to wear masks in public and a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Similarly strict conditions apply to the entire French-speaking part of the country. But in Dutch-speaking Flanders, too, there are currently discussions about tightening up the measures that have been in force until now.
Medical staff working despite CoV infection
The Liege region (Liège) is currently particularly affected. According to the union, dozens of doctors and nurses are now working there despite an infection with the coronavirus.
“We have to choose between a bad or a very bad solution”, Philippe Devos of the Belgian Federation of Medical Unions told the German Press Agency on Tuesday. The very bad solution is not to treat patients at all.
The doctors and nurses who work despite coronavirus infection are symptom-free, he said. In the hospitals of the region, he said, there were certainly more than 100 infected nurses on duty. Devos said that they only care for infected patients. They also wear the best masks available. There was a separate room for them to eat. All conditions are such that the risk of infection is very low.
About the situation in the hospitals of the Province of Liège, Devos said: “We no longer have space in the intensive care units, we no longer have space outside the intensive care units”. Patients who came to the emergency room would be stabilized and then transferred to hospitals in Flanders. This will be the procedure until all hospital beds in Belgium are occupied.
Source: ORF.at, Picture: stockilyapp.com
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