The flu is raging in Belgium. In recent days, services have been saturated with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses. In Dinant, the wearing of masks is making a comeback at the UCL Namur University Hospital.
Belgium has been facing a major epidemic of respiratory diseases in recent days. The emergency departments of many hospitals are overrun. In Dinant too, the flu is raging, explains Dr Frédéric Feye, coordinator of the emergency department at UCL Namur University Hospital, on the Dinant site.
The situation is a little tense. This requires daily management of hospital occupancy. We are not yet saturated, but it remains complicated. We must be careful to properly manage hospitalizations, returns home, but also the various interventions to ensure that they can be carried out on time.
Code orange to limit contagion
To limit contagion, the orange code of the Winter Respiratory Infections Plan was decreed this weekend at the federal level. The doctor explains that among the measures taken is the return of wearing masks in hospitals.
The mask should not be worn all the time, but only in certain defined situations. It is mandatory for people who have symptoms of a respiratory illness. Caregivers and patients must also wear a mask if they have close contact of one meter and fifty, that is to say during a consultation for example. We are not worried about seeing the mask reappear. This is a completely normal procedure in the event of an epidemic, to be combined with regular hand washing.
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The peak of the disease not yet reached
The epidemic would only just begin. Frédéric Feye fears an increase in cases in the coming days.
For now, it’s pretty stable. We are managing, but we are not yet at the peak of the epidemic. We have to see how this will evolve. It is also possible that we will have two peaks of the disease as was the case in previous years.
The situation is regularly reassessed by the Risk Management Group (RMG), made up of representatives of the federal and state health authorities.
