Is the coronavirus making a comeback in Belgium? The figures for contamination and hospitalizations are on the rise. Yves Van Laethem, infectiologist at the CHU Saint-Pierre in Brussels was our guest in the RTL INFO 13H. He was questioned by Simon François.
Simon François: Can we talk about a new autumn wave?
Yves Van Laetham: The fall wave that was expected is there indeed. The figures have been increasing very slowly for a month. They begin to increase more significantly. We saw that it was normal since autumn is here. It’s been raining the last few days, so we’re more inside.
Simon Francois: Could this wave of contamination be worrying?
Yves Van Laetham: No, I think we are going to stay in the wavelet because if the contaminations will increase and should reach a peak around mid-October, see the end of October, we have relatively few hospitalizations or they are of short duration. We should have little impact on intensive care, so some people will be sick, it’s true. There are measures to be taken, we can discuss them, but it will normally be of little importance.
Simon Francois: Germany announces new sanitary measures to spend the winter, would this be necessary for us too?
Yves Van Laetham: There are two things. First of all, there is the vaccination campaign which is in progress. And I think that there are really people who are completely in the indication of this second booster. Then, on the other hand, we can talk about protective measures. These are the masks. Germany has reinstated something it had long imposed, masks FFP2 In public transports. For the moment in Belgium, there is no question of it, but we could have this kind of discussion in the weeks ahead of us.