Flemish PM wants to “wait and see”
The Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (nationalist) has told VRT television’s Sunday topical discussion programme ‘De zevende dag’ that for the moment at least his government doesn’t intend to bring in any additional measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Mr Jambon added that “We are monitoring the situation and it could be the case that in 3 or 4 days we and the provincial governors will take some additional measures. I won’t hesitate, but let us first look at the effect of the measures taken recently. For the moment our figures aren’t at the level they are in Wallonia”.
But is “wait and see” the best option? A number of experts in the field have called for even stricter measures with some even using the word “lockdown”.
"I could start spraying my own house with water because it might catch fire. As responsible politicians we need to keep a level head. I have seen the terrible figures from mental health care organisation, people in care homes that are fading away due to isolation, etc. This is something that we need to keep our eye on too”.
The Flemish Prime Minister says that he wants to try and reconcile three factors: the virus, our mental health and the economy.