After two nights of violent protests against restrictions on fighting Covid in the Netherlands, clashes between protesters and police arrived in Belgium this Sunday afternoon (21).
Thousands of people gathered around the Gare du Nord in Brussels to protest what they see as restrictions on freedom: the mandatory wearing of masks from age 10 and back to work at home four days a week, if possible.
Both measures take effect on this second (22). According to the Belgian government, the restrictions are intended to avoid overloading the health system and unnecessary deaths. In a statement, protest organizers say the determinations “do not constitute a structural solution for health services.”
One of the countries with the highest rate of deaths per inhabitant in Covid’s first wave, caused mainly by outbreaks in nursing homes — in addition to broader accounting than other countries — Belgium controlled the coronavirus pandemic with tight confinement in 2020.
This year, it relaxed the rules while adopting one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in Europe: 75% of the total population received all doses — those who are at least 12 years old can be immunized. Among adults aged 18 and over, 87% have already taken all doses. In the most vulnerable group, over 65 years old, 93% were vaccinated and have already started to receive booster.
Drugs have brought down the number of Covid’s most serious cases, but with the end of restrictions on circulation and contact, in addition to the lesser use of masks and the arrival of the cold —which favors crowding in closed places—, the country began to see in recent weeks an increase in contagion.
Now, the discharge has also involved hospitalizations and deaths, leading to the tightening of restrictions. In the week ending November 16, 12,054 cases were registered per day (19% above the average for the previous week), 268 hospitalizations (+29%) and 31 deaths (+29%), of which only two in nursing homes.
The act against the measures of the Belgian government was previously agreed with the government and started peacefully. The atmosphere, however, warmed up during the march, which passed in front of the headquarters of the European Commission.
One group forced its way down a previously unauthorized route and was dispersed with tear gas and water cannons, according to Brussels-Ixelles police spokeswoman Ilse van de Keere.
According to her, the troops reacted after being attacked with fireworks and stones. Videos on social media show armored cars tearing down barricades of burning rubble and cardboard.
Police estimated that the protest drew around 35,000 people, although images of the demonstration indicate less participation than the march against the climate crisis in October, when the estimated presence was between 5,000 and 10,000 members.
In the Netherlands, which reinstated confinement earlier this month, there were protests and arrests in several cities. The main clashes took place on Friday nights in Rotterdam and Saturday (20) in The Hague, where five police officers were injured and at least 40 people arrested. Police even used water cannons, dogs and agents on horses to prevent protesters from setting fires.
This weekend there were also demonstrations against the restrictions in Austria, which announced a new lockdown as of this Monday (22), for at least ten days, and mandatory vaccination next year.
The act in Vienna brought together 40,000 people, according to the police, who said they had been attacked by some protesters. The troops responded with tear gas bombs. Austria recorded one of the strongest increases in infections in November, along with the Netherlands and Germany.
On Friday, German governors agreed to increase restrictions on the unvaccinated, and the Ministry of Health said a new confinement was not ruled out.
The new wave of contagion affects most European countries, according to the most recent survey by the WHO (World Health Organization), with data up to November 14th. The continent registered the highest weekly rate of infections per capita in the world, 230 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
On the rise for seven consecutive weeks, new infections have broken a weekly record in the region since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of deaths from Covid has grown in Europe since July and reached 28,000 in the week ending on the 14th, but is below the peak in January, when it surpassed 40,000.
With no record of violence, there were also demonstrations in Italy, which made vaccination mandatory for workers and stopped paying for tests —the alternative of non-immunized ones— and in Croatia, where health professionals need to prove that they took the two doses.
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