{"id":206590,"date":"2021-03-19T21:46:42","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T18:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/belgium-looks-to-schools-as-covid-third-wave-rises\/"},"modified":"2021-03-19T21:46:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T18:46:42","slug":"belgium-looks-to-schools-as-covid-third-wave-rises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/belgium-looks-to-schools-as-covid-third-wave-rises\/","title":{"rendered":"#Belgium looks to schools as COVID third wave rises"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Belgium looks to schools as COVID third wave rises<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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A surge in new coronavirus infections and hospital admissions in Belgium has made it necessary to “tighten the screws” on restrictions, especially at schools, ministers said on Friday.\n <\/p>\n

Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said anti-COVID measures had to be followed to meet the government’s two main objectives: a full return of secondary school students after the Easter break on April 19 and the reopening of bars and restaurants from May 1.<\/p>\n

However, the government on Friday resisted imposing more drastic measures seen in France, Italy and other European nations also fighting the third wave of the virus.<\/p>\n

In Belgium, masks will now be compulsory in the last two grades of primary school\u2014 for children aged 10 and 11, compared to a threshold of 12 years old until now.<\/p>\n

In addition, previously announced plans to further loosen restrictions on outside activities and open amusement parks have been dropped. <\/p>\n

The country with a population of 11.5 million, where the pandemic has killed more than 22,600 people, there were some 5,200 new infections on Monday alone, according to official figures. <\/p>\n

In the past week, the daily average of new infections\u2014nearly 3,300\u2014has jumped 34 percent from the previous seven days, which is “considerable,” a health authority spokesman said.<\/p>\n

The number of COVID patients admitted to intensive care (543 on Friday) has almost doubled in a month, to a level not seen in 2021. <\/p>\n

“It is possible (to achieve these goals), provided we tighten the screws now,” Vandenbroucke said.<\/p>\n

“We need to drastically reduce contact and mobility,” he added, calling on employers to better enforce working from home. <\/p>\n

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the biggest factor in new contaminations came from the workplace and schools, where new variants of the virus were infecting more young people.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Follow the latest news<\/a> on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Belgium looks to schools as COVID third wave rises (2021, March 19)
\n retrieved 19 March 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2021-03-belgium-schools-covid.html<\/p>\n

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