17 April 2020 Update from A Locked Down Ghent

The total number of patients infected with the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in the Belgian hospitals continues to decrease, announced the Federal Public Health Service during its daily press briefing yesterday. They reported 310 new patients that were admitted to the hospital in the last 24 hours whilst 455 people were discharged and declared recovered, bringing the total number of people in the hospital because of the coronavirus to 5,309. Unfortunately, also 417 new deaths have been reported. The total number of deaths in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic is currently 4,857. Many people ask why Belgium reports significantly more deaths than other European countries during this corona crisis. I don’t know… The government argues that Belgium is including all deaths in its daily figures, i.e. confirmed corona deaths in hospitals together with deaths in care homes, including many unconfirmed COVID-19 cases. It is not always clear whether the people who died in a care home actually succumbed because of the novel corona virus. So this is how they explain why our daily rate and total number of fatalities is higher per capita than in our neighbouring country. After conflicting/confusing communication regarding mouth masks and lockdown measures at retirement homes I’m very skeptical about what to believe and what not to believe. I guess the future will tell if the authorities have been transparent about this one. Stay Safe, Stay Healthy – Korenlei, Ghent, Belgium.