Belgium tightens pandemic rules, widens QR code system to entire country
“Belgium is experiencing a surge in the number of infections. Over the past week, there was an increase of 70%, and the average daily number of new cases is 5,300. Under If it were not for vaccinations, the situation in our hospitals would be catastrophic. Under such circumstances it is necessary to tighten measures on a federal level,” said Alexander De Croo.
According to official data, in Belgium, 74% of the adult population are vaccinated with two doses, and vaccination of children from 12 to 18 years old has already begun.
De Croo stressed that vaccination is a very effective way to fight the pandemic – “it reduces the number of hospitalizations by 70% and the number of deaths by 90%.”
The average number of hospital admissions of people with coronavirus infection jumped 56% to 115, and the number of Covid fatalities rose 13% to 13 per day in Belgium last week.
The main new measure to combat the pandemic was the spread of QR codes throughout the country, which had previously been introduced only in the Brussels federal region where 67% of the adult population are inoculated against coronavirus, the lowest rate in the entire country.
The Covid Safe Ticket (CST) will be implemented throughout Wallonia and Flanders from 1 November. The Belgians will be able to go to restaurants, concert halls, cinemas, theatres and gyms, as well as visit hospital patients in only three cases: if they are vaccinated with two doses, if they have had COVID-19 in the last six months, or if they have a negative PCR test.
Control over the wearing of masks is tightening throughout the country. Businesses and institutions are strongly encouraged to relocate their staff to remote work. According to the authorities, the introduction of a new lockdown has not yet been considered.
From Friday 29 October, masks will be required in shops, shopping centres, healthcare institutions, concert halls, sports centres, libraries and places of worship. However, masks are not needed in places where the CST is used. Catering staff will have to wear a mask again.
Rules regarding the use of the CST at events have also changed. Now the CST will be required at indoor events with 200 people or more and outdoor events with 400 people or more. Previously, this had been 500 people inside and 750 outside.
According to Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University, a total of 1,328,202 people were infected with coronavirus and 25,889 of them died of related diseases up to 27 October.
Belgium vs. Hungary
Can we compare Belgium with Hungary? Of course. Why not? Can the Hungarian government draw conclusions from the Belgian pandemic situation and take action accordingly? It certainly could. Could it revise its belief in the omnipotence of vaccines when it comes to combatting COVID-19? It certainly should.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is an avid fan of soccer, so we use this analogy when comparing the ‘coronavirus defence match’ between Belgium and Hungary. Here we go.
Full vaccination coverage --- 73% - 59%
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases (per million people, 7-day rolling average) --- 504 - 222
Case fatality rate (CFR, 7-day rolling average) --- 0.56% - 2.7%
Reproduction rate --- 1.53 - 1.73
Number of COVID-19 patients in hospital (per million people) --- 73.59 - 83.04
Stringency Index --- 43.06 - 27.78 (no data for Hungary beyond 11 Oct)
Booster doses (per 100 people) --- 4.13 - 11.23
Cover photo: Getty Images
