Returning travelers not the only engine of omikron in Brussels
The number of new corona infections is highest in the southeast of Brussels. The municipalities of Sint-Gillis, Watermael-Boitsfort and Ixelles have the highest incidence (infections per 100,000 inhabitants) in the country this week. According to virologist Steven Van Gucht, we should not focus on that. “Omikron is already everywhere.”
It seems like a copy-paste from January last year: if we hadn’t yet figured out the British variant (in the meantime) in Ixelles, Etterbeek and Sint-Gillis, those municipalities now get a lot of omikron on their plate. Saint-Gilles counted 1,100 new corona infections in the last two weeks, good for an incidence of 2,309 per 100,000 inhabitants. That is the highest in the country. Watermaal-Bosvoorde follows in second place with 2,161, Ixelles is third with 2,111. Forest, Uccle and Etterbeek are also in the top ten in our country.
The poorer municipalities of Brussels seem to be less affected for the time being, although the incidence is high everywhere. Evere, Sint-Joost, Anderlecht, Ganshoren, Molenbeek and Schaerbeek swings around 1,400 and 1,600. Molenbeek (+70 percent) and Brussels-City (+61 percent) based on two weeks recorded the strongest increases, together with Saint-Gilles (+86 percent). In general, the Brussels region is experiencing the fastest growth in the country.
“Omikron is really not just in the southern expat municipalities,” says virologist Steven Van Gucht of Sciensano. “Only there were probably more people who went abroad during the Christmas period, who were tested on their return. This is how infections end up in the statistics.” Van Gucht suspects that tested risks sometimes persist in other Brussels municipalities. (Read more below the map)
“Travellers can contribute to the infections, but you can no longer solve the current advance by additional travel restrictions,” says Van Gucht. At the beginning of last year, those restrictions started to contain the variant, which was spread even less in our country. It’s too late for omikron. “Omikron is already everywhere, in many different neighborhoods and families. There is no country of travelers much more impactful than another.”
A few weeks ago, travelers from African countries still tested remarkably positive, which started before an uprising in Ixelles, among others, says Van Gucht.
New Years Eve Parties
According to Van Gucht, an average of five percent of departing travelers in our country now test positive, compared to ten percent of returnees. “But you can say that about a Christmas party, if everyone had themselves tested before and after”, he.
It is logical that the infections in Brussels are increasing in the rest of the country. “Omikron manifests itself first in the capitals: we have also seen this in London and in the Dutch Randstad,” says the virologist. He refers to the greater population density in those cities, an aviation young population that has more contacts than the elderly, and more and more travelers. “The lower vaccination rate in Brussels may also play a role. We know that those who have been double vaccinated are better protected against infection and hospitalized.”
At the moment, 59 percent of all Brussels residents have been double vaccinated against Covid-19. The municipalities of Molenbeek, Koekelberg, Anderlecht, Sint-Joost and Brussels-City have the lowest vaccination coverage.