Even after testing positive for coronavirus, doctors in Belgium were advised to continue working, as the number of infections increased with the second wave of the pandemic spreading all over Europe.
In the wake of Europe's second coronavirus surge, far too many Belgians have been infected or quarantined that there are not enough street law enforcement, school teachers, or even hospital medical personnel.
Leading medical experts have cautioned that Belgium might be exhausted from intensive care beds with as little as two weeks, and some hospitals are experiencing staff shortages. As per the national public health institute Sciensano, the nation of 11.5 million people had already reported an average of much more than 13,000 infections a day in the past week. In cases of new infections per capita, the Covid-19 pandemic in Belgium is the second-worst in Europe, after only the Czech Republic.
In one of the worst-hit city of Liège, at least ten facilities have asked medical personnel who have tested positive and are asymptomatic to resume their duties, with around a quarter of all medical staff currently reported to be Covid-19 infected.
Treatment 'impossible to sustain'
An intensive care doctor at the CHC Montlégia Hospital in Liège, Philippe Devos, claimed in a news outlet that the condition is disastrous. "Liège is now is probably the most affected region in the world. We have a lot of doctors and nurses affected. But, starting this week, positive cases were asked to go back to work if they are asymptomatic," Devos stated.
Dr. Devos stated patients had been moved to several other regions of the country for the medication in Liege's western city. "For example, my hospital is an 800-bed hospital, and we receive around 100 hospitalizations a day, so it's impossible to sustain such a speed."
For some time in the second surge of Europe, hospital admission rates stayed relatively modest, offering a form of comfort. Infections have moved from younger, healthier individuals to older people prone to severe cases and risks of Covid-19; however, admissions have risen dramatically.
"Stricter measures may be necessary"
Van Laethem stated in a Monday interview with State RTBF that a resolution is to determine whether to enforce a second lockdown "before the end of the week," and adding that if Belgium does not see "signs of a slowing down of hospital admissions," stringent initiatives may be required.
In an effort to slow down the coronavirus transmission of the infection, the government placed new regulations on the community last week. Every day, there is a curfew from midnight to 5 a.m., there also have been restaurants and cafes for seating services shut, and people are asked to work from home. Amateur athletic events have also been canceled, and any competition has to be held without an audience.
Although Van Laethem claimed that while it could be "possible to get out of this without a lockdown," the government has been planning for all contingencies. If a second lockdown was implemented, the state would "not waste two or three days before putting it into effect."
