11 April 2020 Update From A Locked Down Ghent

The news continue to be very grim… The death toll reported yesterday surged to 496 as 171 deaths that took place “in the preceding weeks” were only now being added to the total death count that now stands at 3,019. Nursing home residents account for nearly half of Belgium’s total coronavirus deaths. Also, the government reported yesterday that 462 new patients were admitted to the hospital in the last 24 hours, and that 404 new people have been discharged. This brings the total number of people in hospital to 5,610. The coming days promise to continue to be sunny, and even summery and whilst many people continue to practice physical activities outdoors researchers at KU Leuven and at the Eindhoven University of Technology created simulations showing how those working out outdoors could be exposing themselves to the virus even when staying 1.5 metres apart. The simulations showed that the slipstreams between two people jogging behind one another were likely to see the second person come into contact with the first’s droplets as they travelled through the slipstream that can sometimes be as long as 10 to 15 metres. I nevertheless will continue walking and exploring Ghent’s street art hotspots but now at a slower pace…:-) Bastionstraat, Ghent, Belgium