17 February 2021: To relax or not to relax? That is the question.

17 February 2021: Yesterday another big fall in the number of coronavirus infections and a slight fall in hospitalisations and deaths was reported. In the week to 13 February on average 1785 people tested positive each day in Belgium. The figure is down 19% on the week. Less good news was that the first four cases of the Brazilian mutant have been diagnosed in Belgium.  Experts are worried about this variant because they believe that it can infect people that already have coronavirus antibodies. Moreover, there is speculation that existing vaccines will be less effective against this variant. Nevertheless, for the first time in a long-time, experts sound cautiously optimistic. They are saying that if we can keep the figures under control and see them continuing to fall in the next couple of weeks, they are willing to propose to the government a gradual relaxation of the measures that are currently in place to curb the spread of the virus. Other good news was that J&J submitted its vaccine against Covid-19 to the EMA for approval yesterday. The agency has confirmed it could make a decision on the vaccine, which requires just one dosis, by the middle of March. Charlotte and Nicholas are looking forward to going back to what we used to know as a “normal life” – Ghent, Belgium.