Belgium takes off (almost) the mask
During the Consultation Committee on Friday, it was decided that wearing mouth protection in public transport will no longer be compulsory.
Covid-19 pandemic
During the Consultation Committee on Friday, it was decided that wearing mouth protection in public transport will no longer be compulsory.
From our correspondent Max Helleff (Brussels) – A Consultation Committee (“codeco”) was held on Friday to lift the latest measures intended to combat the coronavirus pandemic. This codeco, which brought together as always the representatives of the different levels of power in the country, had been postponed several times. Faced with the upheavals of the virus and its latest variants, it is better not to rush decisions. This time, the meeting was dispatched quickly, the ministers are content with its term of an electronic vote and sparing themselves the traditional (and crispy) press conference.
The news are good. It is with a reduction that the Belgians give that they will be able to remove the mask from Monday in public transport. It will cease to be mandatory on trains, trams, buses, metros and any other form of public transport.
On the other hand, the mask remains compulsory in hospitals, medical practices and pharmacies. Health security in application during home care visits will prioritize social distancing. If the distance of one and a half meters cannot be guaranteed between the practitioner and the patient, the mask will then be required. On the other hand, it will simply be recommended to dentists, psychologists and other physiotherapists if the distance of one and a half meters cannot be seen. Caution is still required, however, since wherever the mask falls, it is still recommended.
More travel restrictions
Another decision will please vacationers – and there will be plenty of them this summer despite rising costs. The Concertation Committee repeals all travel restrictions. Non-essential travel is no longer discouraged. Quarantines, vaccination and testing remain mandatory only for travelers originating from or returning from a country where a “concerning” variant is prevalent.
Commuters breathe
The end of wearing a mouth mask in public transport was the most anticipated measure of this Codeco. In recent days, all eyes have been on Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke, renowned for his intransigence in the fight against the virus. The Flemish socialist ended up announcing in the media that he would not oppose this new relaxation. The doctors’ union Absym and representatives of dentists have also provided the measure that will allow tens of thousands of commuters to finally breathe freely on public transport.
But the same Frank Vandenbroucke showered the spirits a little earlier in the week by asking to shield the use of the health pass in the future. The one the Belgians call the Covid Safe Ticket (CST) was necessary until the beginning of March to access the catering industry, mass events or even nightclubs.
Extend the legal framework of the CST?
Problem: on June 30, it will lose its legal framework. Minister Vandenbroucke is therefore asking for his extension to keep the possibility of applying to the CST “just in case”. He finds an ally in the vaccination task force who says he expects a new epidemic wave next fall.
This Friday, Frank Vandenbroucke was instructed by Codeco to study the terms of a re-sale of the CST in the event of a resumption of the pandemic, but no decision has been taken at this stage.
This file may be hot. On the one hand, the Minister of Health wants to have the “tools” necessary to fight against a possible pandemic rebound and avoid wasting time as was the case in the past. On the other hand, the fear exists in the parties as well as in civil society of seeing the definitive imposition of a “society of the past” which would regulate human activities in defiance of fundamental freedoms.
The corona barometer will hibernate
Simple precautionary measure or necessary weapon of anti-pandemic warfare? The future will tell. For now, according to the figures of the Sciensano Public Health Institute published on Thursday, the number of new hospitalizations (- 25%) and occupied beds in intensive care (- 5%) decreased during the period from May 11 to 17. There was no statistically significant excess mortality in the Belgian population as a whole during the last reference week.
Since March 7, the “corona barometer” has been in code yellow, the lowest level. Almost all measures intended to slow the spread of the virus were lifted on Friday. The “corona barometer” – which dictates the health provisions according to the pandemic – is therefore deactivated. Or rather it is put “into sleep” to use the terms of the Walloon Minister-President Elio Di Rupo. The nuance is important.
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