28 July 2021: Good morning from Port-en-Bessin

28 July 2021: The number of new coronavirus infections being recorded in Belgium has more or less stabilized after sharply increasing earlier this month. Between 18 and 24 July, an average of 1,474 new coronavirus infections were detected per day. Hospitalisations due to the coronavirus continue to increase slightly, and between 20 and 26 July, there was an average of 28.3 new hospital admissions per day. Last Monday, a total of 305 people were in hospital because of the coronavirus, of whom 97 were being treated in intensive care. The reproduction rate of the coronavirus has dropped to 1.08 after rising to 1.29 last week. Worrying is that there is a rise of breakthrough infections with the Delta variant in people who are fully immunized. I don’t have the figure for Belgium but in the Netherlands 11% of people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 were fully vaccinated. A very large percentage of these infections are asymptomatic, but these people still can transmit the virus to the most vulnerable among us and those that are not fully vaccinated. Therefore, meticulous compliance to measures like social distancing and wearing face masks remain necessary for the weeks to come… On display today is an early morning picture from the little harbor of Port-en-Bessin. I was looking northeast in the direction of Arromanches where you can see the remains of the artificial harbor that was constructed in 1944 shortly after D-Day… Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, France.