Belgium is on the brink of a coronavirus disaster as a top health official warned that the country could run out of intensive care beds in as little as two weeks.
The country of 11.5 million people has reported on average more than 13,000 cases a day in the past week, according to the national public health institute Sciensano. The COVID-19 outbreak in Belgium is the second worst in Europe in terms of new cases per capita, after only the Czech Republic.
Yves Van Laethem, Belgium's spokesperson for the fight against the coronavirus, warned that unless Belgians change their behavior, intensive care units will reach their capacity of 2,000 patients in 15 days.
At a news conference Monday, Van Laethem said that 1,000 of the country's intensive beds are already being used, with total of 1,250 set to be occupied by the end of the week. Both hospital and intensive care admissions are doubling every eight days, he added.
In an interview with state broadcaster RTBF on Monday, Van Laethem added that a decision would be made on whether to impose a second lockdown "before the end of the week," adding that if Belgium doesn't see "signs of a slowing down of hospital admissions", stricter measures may be necessary.
The government imposed new rules on the population last week in an attempt to slow down the spread of the virus. A curfew is in place every day from midnight to 5 a.m., restaurants and cafes are closed for sit-down services, and people are expected to work from home unless that's impossible. Amateur sporting events have been canceled and any professional competitions must take place without audience.
While Van Laethem said that while it may be "possible to get out of this without a lockdown," the authorities were preparing for all eventualities, and if a second lockdown was imposed the government would "not waste two or three days" before bringing it into effect.
Belgium has recorded total of of 333,718 cases and 10,899 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to Sciensano.
