18 April 2020 Update from A Locked Down Ghent

The national crisis centre reported yesterday 313 extra deaths, bringing the total death toll to more than 5,000. The number of patients that had to be taken to hospital follows the downward trend of the past days. And there's more good news: the virus reproduction rate has dropped below one. While one person contaminated two or three others at the beginning of the pandemic, this figure has now dropped to 0.8. Unfortunately, there were also things that made people scratch their head in confusion… Garden centers and do-it-yourself shops will reopen today but the government did not specify which shops exactly meet the label of garden business or do-it-yourself store. Confusion everywhere! And what do you think about this… ? Since we most likely will not be able to spend our vacation abroad this summer there are fears that too many people will be visiting the Belgian coast which triggered some mayors of the Belgium’s coastal cities to introduce the concept of special permits for spending time on their beaches… All of this would be funny if it wasn’t so sad… Stay Save, Stay Healty – St Michael’s Bridge, Ghent, Belgium