"We are close to a tsunami": that was the stark warning on the gravity of the situation in Belgium, from health minister Frank Vandenbroucke.
He told reporters that a “tsunami” would be a scenario where “we no longer control what is happening". The health pressures in Brussels and the southern French-speaking Wallonia region were “the most dangerous in all of Europe”, he said.
Belgium is now recording on average almost 8,000 cases a day. Most are in Brussels and Liège. That figure is four times higher than the daily average only two weeks ago.
In the past three days, more than 10,000 daily cases were recorded.
The death rate is also slowly rising again, at around 30 per day. But that is still 10 times less than at the peak of the first wave, when Belgium had the world’s highest coronavirus death rate per capita.
There is concern over medical staff and their ability to cope with an influx of cases. Several hospitals in Brussels and Liège have started sending patients elsewhere to avoid saturation. In some cases hospitals in Aalst and Charleroi refused to accept new Covid patients. The mayor of Aalst, Christophe D’Haese, said “the limits of medical solidarity" had been reached.
Doctors' surgeries are also feeling the strain. On Friday, I called my GP for a check-up and was told to avoid coming in because the chance of contracting coronavirus was too high. The doctor said the place was “an aquarium of Covid cases”. Authorities here blame the spread on “pandemic fatigue” - people becoming complacent and no longer observing social distancing rules.
Latest Stories
-
Scandals and Reform in Ghana’s Security Sector: Opportunities arising from Revelations by Ministers for the Interior and Defence (PART I)
17 minutes -
Ghana to host Global Africa Diaspora Investment Summit in December
20 minutes -
Deputy Finance Minister rejects Minority’s claim of not spending
30 minutes -
UNICEF commends Ghana’s timely financing of immunisation program
39 minutes -
Fameye paid me GH¢5,000 to twerk to his song – Akuapem Poloo
59 minutes -
Oppong Nkrumah demands budget clarity on flagship programmes
1 hour -
Camidoh explains why he ditched rapping to focus on singing
1 hour -
Father killed, son injured in armed robbery attack on Bole-Bamboi highway
1 hour -
Ghana Shippers Authority and Prof Ransford Edward Van Gyampo in focus
1 hour -
GH₵13bn for Big Push insufficient – Egyapa Mercer
2 hours -
I paid people to insult me so I would be popular – Akuapem Poloo
2 hours -
WAFCON 2024: Black Queens are a ‘better team’ now – Björkegren
2 hours -
Council of State member escapes highway robbery as gunmen steal cash and rifle
2 hours -
BBC and news agencies warn journalists in Gaza at risk of starvation
2 hours -
12 killed in Thailand-Cambodia military clashes on disputed border
2 hours