5 May 2020 Update from A Locked Down Ghent

At yesterday’s press conference it was announced that “only” 59 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospital. 69 patients that had been treated in hospitals for the virus were discharged. This brings the total number of patients receiving treatment for COVID-19 in Belgian hospitals to 3,044. A further 80 people have died of COVID-19. This brings the total number of people that have died of COVID-19 in Belgium to 7,924. We have been under 100 hospitalisations for two days in a row. Also, the reproduction number of the virus has fallen to 0.6. All very good new! What caught my attention most on yesterday’s news was a fund-raising conference organized by the European Union. Countries around the world — from Japan to Canada, Australia to Norway — all chipped in to an $8 billion pot to fund a coronavirus vaccine. The US skipped the chance to contribute, with President Trump noting that the US is pouring billions of dollars into its own research efforts. This, together with last month’s announcement that the US was freezing all contributions to the WHO continues to play into the narrative of the United States isolating itself. I’m so sorry that this is happening because I truly believe that together we are so much stronger. Today’s picture illustrates that meanwhile people are wearing face masks everywhere - Dok Noord, Ghent, Belgium.