5 February 2021: Corona figures remain remarkably stable...

5 February 2021: In the week to 1 February on average 2,349 people tested positive each day in Belgium. The figure is up 5% on the week. Although this headline number makes us believe that so far, we’ve been able to avoid an exponential increase of number of infections there are big differences across various regions. Some provinces are reporting a decline in the number of infections others are seeing a strong double-digit growth. Scientists have no immediate explanation for the difference but as a minimum it indicates that we are far away from being out of the danger zone. Later today the government is meeting again to assess the situation and to discuss the possible reopening of the hairdressers and other contact professions. Also, a possible reopening for holiday parks and zoos is on the agenda, so people could go there during the carnival holidays now that non-essential travel abroad is not allowed. Many experts, however, are not in favour of relaxing any measures. They claim that nothing has changed from the advice they gave two weeks ago and that there are risks associated with the reopening. The meeting will need to decide whether they want to take that risk or not. Meanwhile, I continue to focus on documenting daily life or what draws my attention during my daily corona walks in my hometown. It is sometimes surreal, ugly, paradoxical and complex. It’s a little bit of everything and a little bit of nothing but it’s unique in its own right – Ghent, Belgium.