With this decision, the mandatory seven-day quarantine after infection with the new disease is established
Health authorities in Belgium decided this week to treat the disease from COVID-19 as the common flu, local media reported. With this decision, the mandatory seven-day quarantine after infection with the new disease is established.
The recommendation remains that those suffering from a respiratory illness stay at home until the symptoms have resolved,
as well as wearing protective masks, especially when interacting with the elderly. In nursing homes, health officials will consider the necessary steps in the event that one of the residents becomes ill. In hospitals, decisions on how to act in a given case will be made by the management of the health facility.
Earlier this year, Belgium also lifted the last mass restrictions related to COVID-19
– wearing a mask in hospitals and doctor’s offices and waiting rooms. Recently, leading local health experts admitted that most of the strict measures imposed in Belgium during the pandemic were rather excessive after the first months of the disease.
Meanwhile, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has drawn a number of conclusions from the ongoing epidemic of COVID-19, DPA reported.
The Stockholm-based health authority has identified four areas where lessons could be learned from the pandemic to help countries better prepare for future pandemics or other emergencies.
Among the lessons are the benefits of investing in the health workforce, the need to better prepare for the next health crises, the need for risk communication and community engagement, and data collection and analysis, according to the report released today of ECPCC. The authority emphasizes that all these areas are closely related. With the pandemic moving into a phase of reduced intensity, the report aims to draw attention to follow-up actions that could contribute to improving pandemic preparedness in Europe.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us valuable lessons, and it is important to review and evaluate our actions to determine what has worked and what has not. We must be better prepared for future public health crises and this must be done through multi-sectoral action This includes investing in and strengthening the public health workforce, improving infectious disease surveillance, strengthening risk communication and public engagement, and fostering collaboration between organizations, countries and regions,” said ECDC director Andrea Amon
COVID-19 reached Europe in early 2020 and then spread extremely quickly. Many countries initially responded by imposing significant restrictions on public life and closing their borders.
Thanks to the record-breaking rapid development of vaccines against COVID-19, eventually in 2022 it became possible to bring the situation under control. People are still getting infected, but Europe is now far from the high infection and death rates of the peak of the crisis, DPA said.
Illustrative Photo by Karolina Grabowska:
