Regarding the situation in China, Yves Van Laethem believes that the country is a prisoner of the rigidity of its response which initially made sense but no longer currently. “We are in front of something that happens almost everywhere. And to steer clear is doomed to failure”.
Should we let the virus circulate and deal with serious cases?
“I think we can’t do otherwise because the variant is not dangerous enough in itself to block society with the economic, psychological and other damage that we have seen. I think the situation needs to be handled much more flexibly and China remains extremely rigid.“
Are we better protected in Europe because a large part of the population has contracted the virus (60-80%)?
“Let’s take the example of Belgium? Officially 4 million people have tested positive. We can double this figure and therefore 60 to 80% of Belgians have contracted the virus. And then vaccination as practiced here is of better quality. than the one in China.”
Regarding the tests, are we testing too little as the WHO points out, forcing us to drive blind?
“We test much less indeed. In Belgium, we carry out 20-30,000 tests per day. It is a trap because this is how we can identify cases. We understand the fatigue of the countries. “have a testing policy as intense as that applied a few months ago. We have an indirect vision of the epidemic through hospitalizations. We see that there everything is decreasing in the same way. Given the type of variant that we have for the moment. This type of piloting is enough.”
Is the coronavirus still very present in Belgium today?
“Yes, it is still there, it is circulating. We still have several thousand people officially infected every day. This is something that must not be forgotten. We are not in a situation like the flu, where it disappears for a few months. We still have a background noise. It’s too early to say that the coronavirus is like the flu, it takes a few more months at least.”
Especially since the coronavirus continues to cause serious cases?
“Yes, we must remember that we can have these famous long-covids which are disabling for several weeks and months, even if we are not hospitalized. And despite everything, there are still around twenty people who die every day, most of them Covid-related anyway.”
Are we ready to face a new wave?
“The plans are there. And we hope that these plans will be more quickly applied and effective than those we had two years ago. We are ready to react. The plans are there for vaccination, for equipment necessary in the event of a new wave, even if the models show a calm horizon, at least until the summer.
A new wave in the fall?
“It’s impossible to know. Everyone will take precautions and no country will give up vaccination in the fall so as to avoid the pitfalls of the previous two years.”
