A second wave of the coronavirus has started in Europe, according to Belgian epidemiologist Pierre Van Damme, who fears that we "have lost control of the virus."
"In an increasing number of places in Europe the infections are increasing," Van Damme told VTM. "It seems as if we have lost control again. Until a few weeks ago, we were doing pretty well, and the epidemic was pretty well under control all over Europe," he added.
According to Van Damme, the situation has everything to do with not applying the eased measures, or relaxing them too quickly. "We are now faced with a challenge to try to get that under control again," he said.
"We all have to realise that we have to follow the measures very strictly, or we will soon lose everything that we have won," he said.
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Additionally, Belgium's health institute Sciensano should start publishing the daily figures again, in addition to the seven-day average, Van Damme said.
"When we were in the tail of our first wave, that average was fine. Then you saw that systematically decrease, now we see that increase again," he said.
The daily figure is an important signal for the public, giving them a better insight into the current situation. "We have been over 100 infections for a few days now, this is an immediate signal: [the virus] is not gone," Van Damme added.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
