The new African mutation – Case in Belgium – has arrived in Europe

LAST UPDATE: 15.55

The first confirmed case of the new variant of the coronavirus was recorded in Belgium.

According to the correspondent of the Athenian Macedonian News Agency in Brussels, this is a young woman who showed symptoms 11 days after traveling to Egypt via Turkey.

She was unvaccinated and had not been previously diagnosed with coronavirus.

The woman had nothing to do with South Africa or any other country in the southern part of the African continent, RTBF reports.

Stricter measures to limit the spread

After the meeting of the Consultative Committee (federal government, regions and communities), moreover, the Belgian Prime Minister announced that from tomorrow, Saturday 27 November, all nightclubs and discos will be closed. Also, the restaurant will close its doors at 11 pm, while up to 6 people per table will be allowed. Parties and private gatherings indoors outside private residences are also prohibited (excluding weddings and funerals). Events and concerts will continue only with seats and keeping distance. The use of the mask will be necessary in all public places. Indoor and outdoor sports will be held without an audience. Indoor sports activities will continue. Teleworking from home will remain mandatory four times a week.

The Belgian Prime Minister justified the new measures, stressing that the pressure in the hospitals is great and the number of beds occupied in the ICU has doubled within a week. “The red line of the 500 occupied ICU beds with coronavirus cases has been crossed and it is worrying. We all hoped for a winter without Covid, but our country is not an island. The whole of Europe is worried,” said Alexander de Cro. He also stressed the need to speed up vaccinations, saying that the entire adult population should receive an additional dose of vaccine. “The vaccine offers us excellent protection and a third dose further enhances this protection,” the Belgian prime minister said.

The Belgian Consultative Committee will meet again on 15 December.

Many countries stop flights

Italy

Italy today banned travelers visiting a number of countries from southern Africa, including South Africa, for the past 14 days due to the spread of a new variant of Covid-19 there.

The country’s health minister, Roberto Speranza, has signed an executive order banning visitors to South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini for the past 14 days. announcement.

Britain

Britain announced today that the new strain of coronavirus that is spreading in South Africa is considered by scientists to be the most important that has been identified so far and therefore it needs to be determined whether or not it makes vaccines ineffective.

Defending a ban on flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Eswatini, British Transport Minister Grand Saps said the lesson from COVID-19 was that timely action was essential.

Czech republic

The Czech Republic has banned travel from South Africa and other African countries to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus variant, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek said today.

The ban will take effect tomorrow, Saturday. It applies to third-country nationals who have stayed more than 12 hours in the last two weeks in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia, Kulhanek wrote on Twitter.

Netherlands

The Dutch government recently announced that it will stop flights from South Africa from today at noon, after the identification of the new variant in the country.