Asked Tuesday by Het Laatste Nieuws, the virologist was optimistic … while remaining pragmatic. “At present, contamination is increasing by 85% (Editor’s note: this Wednesday, the increase was even 96% according to the latest figures from Sciensano). It’s almost a doubling on a weekly basis. But we expected it “, he reassures by analyzing the current situation. “I don’t know if we’ll get to 125,000 officially reported cases. The percentage of positive tests is now one in four to one in three. That means we are missing infections and not seeing them in the statistics.”, he adds.
The good news comes from hospitals, explains the interfederal spokesperson. For him, we should not refer too much to the numbers of infections. “We cannot stop this coronavirus”, he confesses. “The question is, what does this mean for the healthcare system. There you see increasing pressure. Hospitalizations have increased but they are much less spectacular than infections. It has even slowed down slightly compared to last week, but it could be temporary. “
In other words, Omicron is much less pressing on our hospitals than the previous variants, a trend which is confirmed day by day. “The chance of ending up in intensive care with Omicron is much lower than with the Delta variant. This is good news.”, concludes the virologist.
“Omicron will also disappear”
After this wave, life in Belgium could resume a more or less normal course according to him. “We are going to have a good period after this wave”, said Steven Van Gucht for VRT. “Many people have received a third dose or have been infected with either Omicron or another variant. Immunity is improving more and more. So I expect a calm spring and summer, which will allow us to to relax the measures “.
But not yet enough to claim victory too quickly. “We will be able to soften under certain conditions but also tighten the screw if necessary”, he continued with the VRT. “New variants are going to appear again. This is how viruses work. We shouldn’t be afraid of it and it doesn’t have to be a problem. Omicron will go away someday too.”