The Belgian breathes and has regained a certain freedom since the Codeco of March 4. But if the worst seems to be behind us, the covid has not disappeared from circulation. Belgium is also experiencing an increase in its cases and this increase in figures is mainly due to Flanders.
Between March 14 and 20 of this year, Belgium experienced 70,629 new cases, including 57,006 (or 81%) in the north of the country. But how to explain this significant difference? Several experts are trying to answer the question, in comments relayed by De Morgen.
For biostatistician Niel Hens (UHasselt), the Flemings rub shoulders with more people than the Walloons, hence this gap in infections. “Large-scale research shows that Flemings have more contacts on average than Walloons or Brussels residents. This was already the case before corona, but there is indeed a significant cultural difference. This may play a role.”
For Geert Molenberghs, also a biostatistician at UHasselt, the problem is not related to the number of tests carried out on the other side of the linguistic border. “The higher numbers in Flanders cannot be explained by a different testing policy. In fact, Flanders is testing more, but because it is necessary: there are simply more infections. The positivity rate higher in Flanders is proof of this: if Wallonia tested too little, the proportion of positive cases should just be higher than in Flanders, and it is not”.
According to him, the explanation is quite simply geographical. “Even within Flanders you can see a difference between East and West. It is no coincidence that this is linked to the situation in the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Dutch Limburg, which border Antwerp and Belgian Limburg. With the exception of Iceland, these two provinces have by far the highest incidence in all of Europe with 7,000 cases since the carnival period. This spills over into Flanders, which happens much less between Wallonia and Flanders”.
According to the latest figures, the increase in cases seems to be slowing down in Flanders all the same.