Coronavirus: Two patients infected by Covid-19 travelled through Belgium

The federal government is meeting today to discuss the risks of the spread of  coronavirus in the country after two people diagnosed with coronavirus were reported to have travelled through Belgium.

Brussels South Charleroi Airport announced on Sunday that it was activating the third phase of its epidemic sanitary plan after learning that the first Luxembourg patient to have been diagnosed with coronavirus had travelled through the Walloon airport from Italy.

The airport said that it was opening a crisis centre and was retracing the path of the infected passenger and identifying anyone who had been in contact with the person.

A Spanish woman who spent a couple of days in Belgium last week is suffering from double pneumonia and has been diagnosed as suffering from coronavirus, reported the Spanish authorities.

Meanwhile, 15 Belgians who were confined to their hotel in Tenerife last week, returned home on Friday without the need for further quarantine. They were among 700 people told to remain in the hotel due to a number of fellow holiday makers testing positive to the virus.

Other Belgians on vacation in the same hotel have been placed in quarantine until 9 March and are receiving daily medical visits, the Belgian foreign minister Philippe Goffin told RTBF.

On Saturday, the World Health Authority increased the threat level of the virus to “very high” globally.

More cases have been diagnosed in Belgium’s neighbouring countries. In France, 43 new cases were detected on Saturday, bringing the total number to 100, with 86 hospitalised.

Germany continues to prepare for a spread of the virus. There are currently 79 cases detected, no deaths and 16 people reported to have recovered.

Photo: Passengers wearing masks on their faces at the arrival hall of Brussels airport on 28 February 2020 ©Belga/Eric Lalmand