19 June 2021: Greetings from an amber colored Ghent…

19 June 2021: The corona figures show further healthy falls across the board and the vaccination campaign is progressing well. There are currently 555 COVID-19 patients being cared for in Belgian hospitals; of those hospitalised 236 are on intensive care wards. During the week from 9 June to 15 June an average of 600 people tested positive for the coronavirus. This is 44% down on the figures from the previous week. If things continue at this rate we could by the end of June have reached an incidence rate that is lower than 50 cases per 100,000 population. This would mean that Belgium would then be coloured green on the European coronavirus map. Early this week Belgium changed from red to amber on the map for the first time in many months. Considering this positive news, the government announced yesterday further relaxations to the coronavirus restrictions. From 27 June bars and restaurants will be allowed to remain open until 1am. Those going for a drink or a meal will be able to share their table with a maximum of 7 other people. We also will be allowed to go shopping with as many people as we choose, and teleworking will be no longer mandatory. All good news, however, we do need to be vigilant for the delta variant of the coronavirus. This mutation continues to gain ground in Belgium and could become the dominant mutation in the weeks to come. Currently 6.1% of all coronavirus infections in Belgium are with the Indian variant, up from 3.9% a week ago.  Let’s hope that if the number of new infections is low, and the vaccination rate is high that its impact will remain low. On display today is pictured that I took downtown Ghent and labeled “urban geometry” – Tweebruggenstraat, Ghent, Belgium.