Government party leader flouts corona measures
Belgium’s various governments introduce corona measures to limit the spread of coronavirus. The measures are talked through with experts and are pretty restrictive. They are introduced to keep everybody safe and to ease pressure on the health sector.
You might think all leading political leaders, especially from parties involved in government, would be eager to set the right example and stick to such measures. Sadly, you would be wrong. Last week a passer-by spotted Flemish Christian democrat leader Joachim Coens and Pieter De Crem (Flemish Christian democrat), the man who until recently served as Belgian interior minister, having lunch in a Brussels hotel.
The governments have closed pubs and restaurants. Hotels remain open, but hotel restaurants can only serve customers i.e. people who are staying at the hotel. It appears neither Mr Coens, whose party is part of both the Flemish and the federal coalition, nor Mr De Crem had a room at the hotel.
After images of the lunch were posted on Twitter Mr Coens apologised. He claims they had intended to take out, but when they noticed the restaurant didn’t have any custom, they decided to eat in. The two politicians do seem to have been aware of the rule. Mr Coens argues that he made an error of judgement.