Upon reaching their expiration date in 2018, minister of health Maggie De Block decided to destroy and not replace 6 million face masks. By the end of March all 10 provinces of the country had registered cases. Nine of the new infected individuals had recently returned from Italy. [169], In April, Belgium had very high mortality figures, the highest death rate from COVID-19 in the world at that time. As of end July and during August and September the number of new corona infections per day began to rise again in Belgium. In mid-October 2020, 26 people working at the Doel Nuclear Power Station tested positive for COVID-19. [228], From 12 March onwards many people started hoarding for the next one and a half-week. Echt belangrijk om nu strikt de maatregelen op te volgen, "De Coronacurves van biostatisticus prof. dr. Kurt Barbé", "Brouwer-stoker schakelt over: alcohol voor handgel in plaats van whisky uit stookketel", "Janssen Pharma, Tereos én Filliers starten noodproductie desinfecterende ontsmettingsalcohol", "AB InBev maakt handgels en ontsmettingsmiddel uit restalcohol alcoholvrij bier", "Tiense Suikerraffinaderij maakt desinfecterende handgel", "Les entreprises belges produisent 1 million de litres de gel hydroalcoolique et mettent fin à la pénurie", "Production of face-masks locally is 'pretty much impossible,' says industry", "Textielsector: 'Hier productie van mondmaskers opstarten, is niet vanzelfsprekend, "Coronavirus: Belgian companies to start producing face masks", "GSK's major contributions to the fight against Covid-19 in Belgium", "Moet er snel een echte regering komen om de coronacrisis te bezweren? The EU has an agreement in place with US firm Moderna for 160 million doses of its experimental vaccine. On 11 March the care homes were closed for all visitors in Wallonia and Brussels, and a day later in Flanders. Causing still an underreporting of around 600 deaths. Models can help evaluate the potential effects of different community mitigation … [58] The total number of confirmed cases rose to 399. In an apparent effort at transparency, a daily epidemiological bulletin and a set of raw data are made available on the Belgian Institute for Health website. [147][148] On 16 March, De Standaard reported that De Block had blundered by ordering all 5 million masks from a single company (M.O.S.S.A. May Coronavirus: les cuisines de l’Ancienne Belgique utilisées pour préparer des repas de Nouvel An aux sans-abri ... L’Ancienne Belgique et le centre … At the end of March, it became clear that the peak of the only wave thus far of the pandemic within the country was expected in early April. [107] On 19 March, a shipment of 100,000 FFP2 respirators arrived. Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction Join CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta for the latest news about the coronavirus. [68], The additional number of people reported as having tested positive for the novel coronavirus peaked on 28 March compared to the previous days. Sep [229][specify], The closures and bans ordered by the authorities led to cancellation of many events in the country. [128], While the COVID-19 was already spreading to all regions of Italy in late February, the Belgian government has been criticised for its lack of action. [72] However, on the daily press conference of the Belgian National Crisis Centre of 28 March Dr Emmanuel André of the UZ Leuven mentioned that the number of 789 ICUs corresponded to 43% of the capacity, bringing the total capacity to 1835 instead of 2650, while Dr Van Gucht quoted the capacity as 2081 units. The youngest fatality overall in Belgium was a 12-year-old girl[243][244] while the oldest person to die was 104 years. [150][151] Hospitals such as the Centre Hospitalier Interrégional Edith Cavell (CHIREC) reported that they were in dire need of protective masks. The global effort to develop a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is likely to soon produce one or more authorized vaccines. It lasted 1 month. Apr [77] The mortality peak would follow a bit later, and was retrospectively observed to have occurred on 12 April. Premier pays touché par la pandémie, la Chine où le coronavirus est sous contrôle s’apprête à lancer une campagne de vaccination de masse. The actual number of infections is estimated to be much higher than the number of cases confirmed by a laboratory test. [81] The percentage of positive COVID-19 cases of all samples taken has risen in September to more than 3%. Just as many countries in the world,[142] Belgium faced a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as respirators, surgical masks or face shields. [needs update]. Coronavirus Cases: [231][232], The Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy reported that the strong decrease in car and air traffic due to the confinement measures does not necessarily entail as strong a decrease in air pollution. Politique de cookies - Causing an underreporting of around 3000 deaths. [116] From the first report of infection within Belgium, the government communicated on certain developments with the public. [133][obsolete source], When the first measures were taken by the Belgian government on 10 March, in the form of recommendations, some expressed that more drastic measures were required, like Professors Herman Goossens and Marc Van Ranst who questioned the set limit of maximum 1,000 people for indoor events. [165] Only on 21 April, masks were advised for all personnel in contact with patients. On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. [152] On 25 March, PVDA-member of parliament Sofie Merckx [nl] complained that since 2009 the various governments had not renewed the strategic reserves of mouth masks due to cost cutting measures in the health care system. [98] It was stressed that the measures taken were not a lockdown because people were not required to stay home. [78] The peak was 417 deaths in 24 hours. Feb While the neighbouring Netherlands had an estimated excess mortality of 6,200, with only 3,197 reported COVID-19 deaths in that same period. La Belgique durcit ses mesures contre le Covid-19 après une augmentation « inquiétante » des cas Le gouvernement a décidé de rétrécir la « bulle sociale » : chaque individu ne pourra avoir des contacts qu’avec cinq personnes maximum en dehors de son foyer. Total cases in Belgium (cumulative) 48,5 procent minder auto's op de weg maar hamsteren veroorzaakt wel méér vrachtverkeer", "Corona does not necessarily imply less pollution", "Coronavirus lockdowns have changed the way Earth moves", "Coronavirus : pourquoi le nombre de cas détectés en Belgique ne représente pas grand-chose", "Marc Van Ranst: "Werkelijk aantal besmettingen ligt waarschijnlijk tien keer hoger, "Coronavirus en Belgique : combien y a-t-il de patients guéris ? [22] The patient, an asymptomatic 54-year-old male, was then transferred to the Saint Peter's Hospital in Brussels, one of the two referral centres in the country. [196], Studies conducted by Vrije Universiteit Brussel on patients that were being treated for small procedures and who did not have COVID-19 symptoms, showed that approximately 8 % had an infection in the lungs and were infected with the coronavirus,[197] confirming the suspicion that many people are infected with the coronavirus without knowing and as herd immunity would prevent the spread of the coronavirus. [45] He had returned from Italy the previous week and attended a meeting with about thirty other European Union officials before he had started to feel ill.[45] A military staff member of the European External Action Service who attended the meeting then also began to experience symptoms. The deaths number by province is non-official and based on very partial data. La fête d’anniversaire annuelle d’Hobo, qui bénéficie en temps normal à 250 sans-abri, ne pouvant pas avoir lieu à cause de la crise du coronavirus, la salle de concert ouvre la cuisine de ses coulisses en préparant un repas de fête. The new cases were amongst others reported in Oosterzele and Sint-Katelijne-Waver. ", "Optimisme kwam zoals gevreesd te vroeg: "Modellen voorspellen piek begin april, "Opnieuw 205 doden, maar 'voor eerst daling van aantal gehospitaliseerde patiënten, "Belgium's Prince Joachim apologises for Spanish lockdown party", "Kaap van 100.000 besmettingen overschreden in België, cijfers blijven stijgen", "Corona in België. [48] The new cases were reported to be in Knokke-Heist, Zonhoven, Doomkerke [nl] (Ruiselede) and Vlierzele (part of Sint-Lievens-Houtem).[49]. [175][176] Some doctors complained that deaths caused by other pathologies and causes have been lumped into the COVID-19 category. Les conducteurs bénévoles ne pourront pas ramener les fêtards à leur domicile cette année lors du réveillon de Nouvel An, déplorent mercredi les Responsible Young Drivers dans un communiqué. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to have an expert panel review any Covid-19 vaccine application for emergency use, along with at … The employees affected included some with important tasks in the nuclear power plant. Coronavirus: moins de 100 décès quotidiens en moyenne en Belgique. He'll make sense of … 5 articles recommandés par la rédaction. This was only the third time the infection of a companion animal by its human companion had been reported worldwide. Le public peut également contribuer, via la billetterie en ligne, à l’initiative en faisant don d’un repas de Nouvel An pour cinq euros. She also instructed "all colleagues in non-critical functions" to work from home with immediate effect until 5 April, while those "who ensure critical functions" would need to work in two shifts to minimize the risk of contagion. With people who are not part of your bubble, safety distance had to be respected. [73] The newspaper De Standaard mentioned the number of 1765 on 31 March[74] and 2393 on 3 April.[75]. COVID-19 confirmed cases in Belgium by province (, COVID-19 confirmed cases in Belgium by region (, COVID-19 confirmed cases in Belgium by day and region (. The number of testing was now much increased. [208], To make up for the shortage of medical masks, the Belgian textile sector was requested but unable to produce masks at short notice because of the lack of manufacturing capacity and of raw materials. [164] These events led to severe criticism addressing the Flemish minister of public health Wouter Beke. In the period between 7 and 27 March the number of confirmed cases doubled on average every 3.7 days (20.9 % daily increase). [65] While the high incidence in Honnelles could be linked to an outbreak in a centre for disabled people, the mayor of Quévy had no idea what caused the large outbreak in her municipality but complained of the lack of communication and protective equipment. [18][16], Feb Covid oblige, la Belgique refuse d’assouplir les règles pour les fêtes de fin d’année… Nov In September an average of more than 30,000 tests were carried out daily compared to ca. [45] The EDA cancelled all meetings until 13 March, and other EU institutions also took precautions. [250] On 29 March the province of Liège even became the second worst affected province in Belgium after Limburg. Starting 4 May 2020, Belgium began gradually to ease the lockdown measures, which were the measures taken from March 18 to combat the spread of the coronavirus. [example needed] For example, Chinese New Year celebrations were cancelled at the University of Leuven.[230][relevant? Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Greece is helping to combat the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on developing countries. [134] The BVAS/ABSyM, the biggest medical trade union in Belgium, warned for a potential collapse of the health care system and called for a closure of all schools at short notice as well as a ban on all gatherings of more than hundred people. The other patient had had contact with a prior case. [101] Earlier, the governor of West Flanders had complained about Dutch and French citizens coming to Belgium for tourism or shopping,[102] while mayors of municipalities close to the border with the Netherlands such as Paul Van Miert of Turnhout urged their Dutch counterparts to request their national authorities in the Netherlands to implement similar measures as in Belgium, to stop Belgian citizens going to Dutch cafés or restaurants. [26], On 1 March, a second case was confirmed in Belgium, a Dutch-speaking woman who had returned from Crépy-en-Valois in one of the regions affected in France.[27]. The yearly one week school holiday around carnival lasted from 22 February until 1 March 2020. July and September 2020. On 30 October, new figures showed that Belgium had the highest infection rate in Europe. [166], On 10 April, about 40% of all COVID-19 deaths in Belgium occurred in care homes. [36], By 4 March 10 new cases were confirmed, making a total of 23. [92], On 1 March, as a second case of coronavirus was confirmed in Belgium, phase 2 of the health risk containment strategy was activated. L’Ancienne Belgique et le centre d’accueil Hobo unissent leurs forces pour donner du baume au cœur des sans-abri le 31 décembre avec un bon repas. [41] The Flemish Agency for Care and Health advised the school not to close down.