Belgium in Brief: Great Power/ Great Responsibility

Belgium in Brief: Great Power/ Great Responsibility
Credit: Canva

Ok, I give up. Today we're talking about covid, but at least it's going to be a slightly different angle.

Today we're talking about risks.

A new tool aims to help people assess their chances of becoming infected with the coronavirus and how severe the illness will be based on their location and state of health.

But what would you do with that information? If your results showed that you were at a low risk of severe illness but a high risk of infection, would it impact how you went about your daily business?

A year ago, we were living within some pretty strict rules; this year not so much. Would you go for dinner? Attend that scaled-down Christmas get-together? Or stay home on the off-chance that you became another link in the chain of infection.

In a quote that's been paraphrased and repurposed over the years (but I'll admit I know it from Spiderman).

"With great power comes great responsibility."

What would you do? Stay home, or try to live life as normal as possible?

Let @johnstonjules know. 

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1. Belgian web-tool launched to help people calculate risk of a Covid infection

An online tool has been launched to allow people to assess the chances of becoming infected with the coronavirus and how severe the course of the disease will be based on their location and state of health. Read More.

2. European Commission: Platform workers should be considered employees

Workers for platform companies like Deliveroo and Uber are currently considered independent contractors, meaning they don’t have access to basic labour rights. Read more.

3. 1,000-year-old seal returns from Denmark to Bruges

The piece is reckoned to be 1,000 years old, and can be seen now in the exhibition “Verhalen uit de ondergrond – Brugge in het jaar 1000” (Tales from the underground – Bruges in the year 1,000) currently taking place at the Gruuthusemuseum. Read more.

4. World’s first all-electric sightseeing bus fleet launched in Brussels

World’s first all-electric sightseeing bus service has been launched in Brussels by public transport operator STIB, a breath of fresh (and clean) air for the capital’s tourism industry. Read more.

5. Hidden Belgium: The Téleférique

The last of the iconic red cabins known locally as “eggs,” it used to carry tourists up to the Namur citadel. The cable car closed in 1997 due to falling rocks and was destroyed by fire in 2002, leaving just this solitary relic, which was bought by the owner of the restaurant Exterieur Nuit and restored to working condition. Read more.

6. Minimum wages: What will a new EU directive look like?

The Employment and Social Policy Council reached on Tuesday an agreement on a proposal for a directive on adequate minimum wages aimed at ensuring fair working conditions in the EU. Read more.

7. Man takes out gun after being asked to show Covid Safe Ticket in bar in Flanders

On Monday evening, a man pulled a gun when he was asked to show his Covid Safe Ticket (CST) before being allowed to enter a bar in Rotselaar, in the Flemish Brabant province. Here's more.


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