{"id":151714,"date":"2020-10-20T23:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T23:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/belgium-scales-back-coronavirus-testing-strategy-as-labs-face-crunch\/"},"modified":"2020-10-20T23:00:18","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T23:00:18","slug":"belgium-scales-back-coronavirus-testing-strategy-as-labs-face-crunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/belgium-scales-back-coronavirus-testing-strategy-as-labs-face-crunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium scales back coronavirus testing strategy as labs face crunch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Belgian officials are defending the decision Monday by the country\u2019s nine regional health ministers to limit coronavirus testing just to people with symptoms, saying they have no other choice in light of labs getting overwhelmed.<\/p>\n<p>Until now, anyone who was in close contact with a positive case or who had returned from a \u201cred zone\u201d abroad also had to get tested. But with cases skyrocketing, the health ministers decided to switch course to ease pressure on testing labs.<\/p>\n<p>Virologist Steven Van Gucht, who advisesthe government on its coronavirus policy, described the new policy as \u201cnot ideal\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrt.be\/vrtnws\/nl\/2020\/10\/19\/teststrategie-aangepast\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">in an interview <\/a>with Belgian broadcaster VRT.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we can\u2019t demand the impossible,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen the capacity is insufficient, we have to adapt and see what the next best thing is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Belgium\u2019s national health minister, Frank Vandenbroucke, took a similar view Tuesday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vrt.be\/vrtnws\/nl\/2020\/10\/20\/frank-vandenbroucke-sp-a-over-nieuwe-teststrategie-je-moet-h\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saying<\/a> that \u201cyou have to keep things feasible in this serious situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some critics are saying it\u2019s the wrong move at the wrong time \u2014 especially for the country\u2019s test-and-trace efforts.<\/p>\n<p>The problem, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rvdwalle\/status\/1318426785474859010\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> Rik Van de Walle, rector of the University of Ghent, is that the country\u2019s test-and-trace strategy has \u201cfailed since the end of last week \u2026 [and it] will take at least a couple of weeks to set up a new strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the decision was broadly seen as the best among worsening options.<\/p>\n<p>Vandenbroucke <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/belgium-coronavirus-tsunami-new-restrictions\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">warned<\/a> on Sunday that the country is nearing a coronavirus \u201ctsunami.\u201d In the country of 11 million, there are on average <a href=\"https:\/\/epistat.wiv-isp.be\/covid\/covid-19.html\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">8.422 new infections per day<\/a>. The number of patients in the hospitals has doubled since last week. And with testing labs under pressure, there are longer waiting peri<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/belgium-scales-back-coronavirus-testing-strategy-as-labs-face-crunch\/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&amp;utm_medium=RSS&amp;utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More \u2013 Source<\/a><br \/>\n[contf]<br \/>\n[contfnew]<br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/snap.md\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/politico-logo.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<h5><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">politico<\/a><\/h5>\n<p>[contfnewc]<br \/>\n[contfnewc]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Belgian officials are defending the decisio..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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