i also recognize
On Wednesday, March 18th, Belgium declared a state-wide lockdown.
All non-essential shops and markets were closed, and every citizen was told to work from home. The police force has been tasked to gently enforce these rules. If a person is walking around, they approach and ask what they are doing. Ilse Van de keere, spokesperson for the Brussels Capital police zone, explained that their purpose is to ensure that everyone understands the restrictions that the government has issued.
These measures have been taken due to the rising number of people impacted by COVID-19. As of March 20th, 2020, Belgium has 2,257 known cases of coronavirus. 37 people have died and about half of those people died in Brussels, Belgium’s capital. The number of deaths doubled between Thursday and Friday.
As I scroll through the Brussels Times, a leading Belgian newspaper, it’s the list of small changes that stand out to me. These are news stories I can relate to now, but that two weeks ago I did not realize would come to resonate with me so deeply. Today the Belgian Pride Festival was cancelled and rescheduled for August. The non-profit responsible for organizing the event stated, in words that are becoming familiar, “We are currently experiencing a situation that we have not experienced for a long time, and of which we hope never to have to experience it again.”
I click on an article titled “Which international trains are running?”, expecting to see a long list of trains and times, like a shuttle schedule for an Orlando hotel (on a normal day). I find instead that the list is very short.
Five countries are listed in bold, with the means of departure briefly described below them. There is no way to leave for France. An Austrian company ÖBB’s will take passengers from Brussels to Vienna, but not to Innsbruck. At the bottom of the short article is a section titled “Closed Borders;” only a few hours ago, Belgium announced that non-essential travel would no longer be permitted.
Belgium’s people have also reacted on both ends of an alarm scale in response to the pandemic. One article from Thursday features a picture of a lushly grassed park filled with picnickers laying out in the sun. A person described as both a “social media user” and an “enraged doctor,” Clara Loriot, described herself as “dumbstruck” by the sight. ““It was as though the population had only heard the ‘you can go out for some air’ part of [prime minister] Wilmes’ speech, who, in fact, was calling for confinement. “Each day counts, and only confinement can save us.” Her message came on a day when the number of hospitalizations had begun to rise, and she spoke as a person anticipating that it would rise much, much more before the “crisis” was lifted.
Belgians have also used social media to connect with one another in this uncertain time. Vincent Kompany, a renowned football player for the R. S. C. Anderlecht, reached out to fans of the team through twitter this week.
He spoke with a tone that I also recognize - one of hope. “Keep dreaming, keep planning for the future, you will get through it. It is what it is, but we can always grow towards each other in difficult times. Stay strong.”