9 January 2021: I cannot be the only one longing to travel again…

9 January 2021: Update on The Corona Pandemic – I’m continuing down memory lane. This very day exactly 4 years ago we arrived in La Paz, Bolivia. The breathtaking view on display is taken from El Alto (4000 m above sea level) looking down over La Paz with a backdrop of the snow-capped mountains Huayna Potosi and Illimani. In Belgium, today, statistics show that for the first time in a while there is a slight increase in the number of infections. During the week from 30 December to 5 January an average of 1,720 people/day tested positive for the coronavirus. This is up 3% on the 7-day rolling average for the previous week. Albeit the numbers of hospitalizations and fatalities albeit is still going down. Are these the early signs of the impact of the festive period and the returning holiday makers? The good news is that after the criticism that things were not moving quickly enough the government announced yesterday a revised vaccination program.  By the end of this month all residents of care homes should have received their jab. From the end of this month the vaccination of health care professionals will commence. The vaccination of the over 65s and people with underlying complaints that put them at a high risk if they become infected with coronavirus will get under way in March. The rest of the population will be able to get vaccinated from June. In order to facilitate the mass vaccination programme 200 vaccination centres will be opened across the country. The aim is that all those that wish to will have been vaccinated by the end of September. Net-net, there is hope. We just need to get through the next couple of months.