Brussels hospitals are filling up; regional government continues to dawdle

The regional government in Brussels has delayed too long in opening sufficient testing capacity. It is not taking up its role as coordinator of the safety and enforcement policy at all. New test centres are only now being opened, but on the other hand, others are also closing, such as in Sint-Joost. “How can you expect the population to respect the measures when it sometimes takes days to obtain something as basic as a coronavirus test? There is almost no information about where you should go, and then it sometimes takes days before you get your results,” Brussels MEP Gilles Verstraeten says.

19 different approaches

At the same time, the basic measures are insufficiently upheld. Moreover, it actually beggars belief that Molenbeek announces stricter measures itself, for example. In one municipality of Brussels, a bubble of five is again the rule, while in another it is not. “I’m sorry, but this approach is absurd. We can’t afford to have 19 different packages of measures. Such a thing is utter chaos. People aren’t following them anymore.”

“Primary care is completely exhausted and frustrated, our hospitals are filling up again and can barely keep up. I’m worried about how this will continue to evolve,” Gilles Verstraeten concludes.