The Belgian Prime Minister with what sounded almost like John F. Kennedy, as she introduced on Monday a new measures against the resurgence of the Coronavirus. Each individual should ask themselves, “what can I do personally to fight against the Virus and to protect my loved one,” said Sophie Wilmès. The urgent appeal was entitled: The Land is returned quickly and so much the norm that rules have hardly been considered yet. The result followed on the foot. Since the beginning of July the infection fast pay up. The reproduction rate of the Virus is at a value above one.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, Nato and the Benelux countries, based in Brussels.

F. A. Z.

For Belgium was recorded by the EU-protection against infection authority in the first half of July 28 proven infections per 100,000 inhabitants. In Germany, in the same period, only eight, in Spain 35. Thus, the country is still far away from Luxembourg (219), which has reached, as the only Region in Central Europe, the highest alert level to “red”. But Flanders is shipped to “orange”. About half of the daily new infections was last in Antwerp, the metropolis, where a number of Restaurants and pubs to the welfare requirements kept, and in addition, quarantine rules were broken. Now Local need to close to 23 o’clock. Thereafter, the output starts to lock up six o’clock in the morning, so the local authorities have announced, after an eight-hour long crisis meeting on Monday evening. In the rest of the country, the citizens must restrict significantly.

The degree of freedom has become in the past few months, the “social bubble”, “la bulle sociale”. Most recently, she was so great, that hardly anyone took the limit at all seriously. Each Individual could have with 15 changing persons-per-week contacts, without a mouth, stand protection and social minimum. This is limited to five persons per household; by the end of August, it must always be the same. Thus, the country falls back to the first Phase of the relaxations in may. The approved number of participants of public events is halved: up to 200 people Outdoors, 100 indoors, each with a mask of duty.

crisis management confusion

“It is important to avoid General output restrictions and not to jeopardise the resumption of the operation of the School, starting in September,” said the Prime Minister Wilmès to notice. She spoke of “very, very strong measures” the government “one-to-one” implementing the recommendations of virologists. The were last increased by public submissions and the pressure to Act. So similar it had been running previously with the protection masks: Only when more and more experts called in after that, fined the Federal government a General duty to wear such masks while shopping and on other occasions. Wilmès has been accused of, you have emphasized too much the regained freedom of the citizens, although they had always admonished to greater responsibility.