The Flemish government has released €1.2 million in funding to guarantee the coronavirus testing capacity in the region until the end of June.
Flanders has a testing capacity of at least 20,000 people a day, supported by a network of hospitals, home nursing services, local authorities and care councils, which are being organised by local GPs.
“New variants are becoming dominant, while the vaccination campaign depends on supplies from producers. We, therefore, want to retain the possibility of large-scale testing in Flanders,” Flemish Public Health minister Wouter Beke said in a press release.
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He warned that despite the high number of people scheduled to be vaccinated in the region - almost half a million Flemish people during the next two weeks - the number of infections in Flanders remains high.
The Flemish Government will be awarding each recognised GP district an additional subsidy of €0.1845 per inhabitant of the respective district to further support this testing capacity.
“Testing in Flanders has been very successful this past year, in part thanks to the GPs. As long as this crisis is not over, we must be able to guarantee the testing capacity,” said Beke.
An evaluation will be carried out in May to determine the future management of the test and triage centres after 30 June 2021.
Lauren Walker
The Brussels Times
