22 February 2021: Hope dampens of early relaxation of coronavirus measures

22 February 2021: The number of people testing positive has stopped falling during the past few days and it is expected to rise in the days to come. The British variant is now estimated to account for half of all coronavirus infections. In the week to 18 February on average 2005 people tested positive each day in Belgium. The figure is up 4% on the week. As a consequence, no significant easing of coronavirus restrictions should be expected to come out of next Friday’s meeting of the government. The Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said that this could only be done responsibly in around another three weeks when the country has a better view on the impact of the British variant of the virus. Yesterday’s nice weather meant that people came out in droves. Despite the fact that people on squares and lawns did not always respect the distance rules or wear a mouth mask the local police called it “pleasantly crowded”. – Citadelpark, Ghent, Belgium.