20 June 2021: All that glitters is not gold…

20 June 2021: The corona statistics keep improving. The total number of corona patients in Belgian hospitals fell to 499. The last time we were below the 500 mark was 21 September last year, well before the start of the second wave. There are 212 corona patients left in intensive care. During the week from 10 June to 16 June an average of 542 people tested positive for the coronavirus. This is 44% down on the figures from the previous week. The positivity rate has plummeted to just 2 percent: when 100 tests are carried out, 2 turn out to be positive. More good news is that 70% of the Flemish adult populations has received at least one dose of the corona vaccine. Yesterday I wrote that the new relaxations would kick in on 27 June, this is four days earlier than originally planned. This decision was not driven by models of biostatisticians but by our national soccer team, the Red Devils. If all goes well, they will be playing the eight-finals in the European Championship and the scheduled match is set to kick off in Seville at 21.00. If the match is over within the normal 90 minutes of play, no problem. If it is extended, however, into extra time, then the match would still be under way at closing time of bars and restaurants… Let’s hope that this euphoria does not come back and bite us. All that glitters is not gold. The surge of the delta variant still represents a serious threat to all those that are not fully vaccinated – Dagblad Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium