5 December 2020: Belgium now has 5th lowest coronavirus infection rate in Europe

5 December 2020: Update on The Corona Pandemic – Belgium is currently ranked in the top 5 of countries with the least number of confirmed Covid-19 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. We currently have an incidence of 248 new confirmed infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks. The country with the best control of the virus is Iceland, with 58 confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Ireland (82), Finland (108) and Norway (122).Although the coronavirus figures continue to fall in Belgium the rate at which the number of new confirmed infections is falling is slowing down. This is probably the consequence of more widespread testing since the testing strategy was modified on 23 November (since then people that have had a high-risk contact or have returned from a red zone area but don’t display symptoms can also be tested), and an increase of infections among children, particularly children under the age of 10. This is probably linked to the reopening of schools after the half term break. Anyhow, if the number of confirmed new infections is falling by half every 18 days as it is now, it will be the end of December before we will have a weekly average that is under the threshold level of 800 confirmed infections per day. 800 confirmed new infections and 75 hospital admissions per day for 14 days are the numbers we need to achieve before the government is willing to discuss any relaxation of the measures designed to curb the spread of the virus. There is only one way going forward and that is sticking to the rules. As a minimum we can enjoy a city that is decorated with thousands of lights - Korenlei, Ghent, Belgium.