19 May 2021: Only good news!!! We’re marching in the right direction…

19 May 2021: According to one of Belgium’s lead virologists, Professor Van Gucht, the figures are currently following the most optimistic forecasts. He continued that at the current rate the number of coronavirus patients on ICUs will soon fall below 500.  The total number of COVID-19 patients in our country’s hospitals stands at 1,857, a fall of 17% on a week ago. Of these 610 are on intensive care wards. During the week from 9 to 15 May an average of 2,099 people tested positive for coronavirus each day, a fall of 30% on the previous week. The positivity rate stands at 5.9% and the reproduction rate is 0,89. Speaking about the Indian variant, Professor Van Gucht told the press that there are currently 77 confirmed cases in Belgium, but that there are probably more cases than this. He added that it is still unclear how much more infectious the Indian variant is than other coronavirus variants. Most importantly of all is that he said that there is no indication that vaccines offer less protection against the Indian variant than they do against other variants. I wholeheartedly hope he is right. Today’s picture is a photo I spotted on the walls of the Ghent city museum – SMAK, Ghent, Belgium