6 June 2021: Whilst I’m awaiting my second jab, I continue to document Ghent’s street art…

6 June 2021: There have been mixed reactions to yesterday’s announcements by the government ofthe changes to the coronavirus regulation which consisted generally of a lifting of restrictions. Whilst the hospitality and travel industry welcomed the decisions, healthcare professionals expressed concerns that too many measures are relaxed at the same time and that there is a chance that the relaxations are going too fast compared to the number of vaccinations. Their main concern is a potential surge of the Delta variant, formerly known as the India variant. They are basically okay with the things that are allowed in open air but are finding indoor activities too risky and are hoping that people will remain careful. Otherwise, they are afraid we will see an increase again from the end of June, which is predicted by the statisticians. Meanwhile, the number of people with the virus that are being hospitalised continues to fall. There are currently 1,007 COVID-19 patients being cared for in Belgian hospitals; of those hospitalised 341 are on intensive care wards. During the week from 27 to 2June an average of 1,578 people in Belgium tested positive for the coronavirus. This is 15% down on the figures for the previous week. The positivity rate remains at 0.44 and the reproductive rate is slightly up to 0.87. On Thursday 3 June (the latest date for which figures are available) 4,882,939 had been given their first dose of coronavirus vaccine. This is 53% of the adult population. Of these 2,351,884 are fully immunised. On display today is another mural from Dok Noord – Ghent, Belgium.