Despite requests from other countries to help with rising numbers of infected, Belgium will not take additional coronavirus patients from abroad for the time being.
As more and more states fear that their health care systems will be overwhelmed by the influx of patients, calls for European solidarity have become increasingly urgent. Requests to Belgium from hospitals in the Netherlands and Italy have been refused, Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès’ office informed the newspaper ‘De Tijd’.
“As long as we have not reached the peak of the epidemic, we are reserving our hospitals for people living in Belgium,” De Tijd learned from a source close to the government. The borders remain closed for patients from abroad, confirmed the cabinet of Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès (MR).
Germany has decided to take care of a limited number of Italian patients to relieve care institutions close to collapse. Germany is also lending a hand to France, with the help of Switzerland and Luxembourg, for patients in Alsace, which has been hard hit by the epidemic.
Read more via The Brussels Times
