18 January 2021: Did the movement of tourists open the doors to the spread of the UK-strain of the virus?

18 January 2021: Generally, the increase in infections has slowed down in recent days, and both hospital admissions and deaths continue to decrease. On average during the week to 14 January 2,010 people a day tested positive for the coronavirus, that is an increase of 9% on the week. However, around noon yesterday, news broke that an outbreak of the UK strain had been detected in a little village in the Western part of the country with 128 persons infected, 63 of them in a nursing home. While only a minority of samples in Belgium have tested positive for the new strain, the number could shoot up, according to our subject experts. The British variant of the virus was already present in our country, but we’ve noted an increase since the new year.Did the movement of tourists open the doors to the spread of the mutation? We’re anxiously waiting to see how the situation will evolve in the coming weeks – Ghent, Belgium.