Belgian No-Go Area Molenbeek Hardest Hit by Coronavirus

Illustration picture shows signs requiring people to wear facemasks at Avenue de la Toison
PAUL-HENRI VERLOOY/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

The heavily migrant-populated no-go area of Brussels, Molenbeek, has the highest number of Wuhan coronavirus cases per week per capita in all of Belgium.

Figures released by the Sciensano Institute of Public Health revealed that Molenbeek saw 107 cases of coronavirus from August 20th to the 26th, for a rate of 110 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the Brussels area of Schaerbeek with 81 cases per 100,000 people.

In total numbers, the city of Antwerp had the most overall cases, recording 342 new infections. But this represents just 65 cases per 100,000 residents, Belgian broadcaster RTBF reports.

Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, Belgium has been one of the countries in Europe most affected by the disease, with nearly 9,900 confirmed deaths and an average of 4.1 deaths per day.

Cases and fatalities have, however, begun to decline. The week of the 20th to the 26th of August saw a fall of 57 per cent compared to the week prior in terms of deaths.

During the same period, Belgium saw a 15 per cent decrease in the number of new confirmed coronavirus infections, as well.

The Brussels area of Molenbeek, well-known for having ties to radical Islam and being the area where Bataclan massacre terrorist Salah Abdeslam hid for months, saw “youths” purposely try and infect police officers with the virus in May.

The young people were caught spitting on the door handles of police vehicles, and three individuals were arrested. Ironically, the three were members of the “white vests”, a group allegedly trying to raise awareness of coronavirus to local youths in the area.

While Brussels is a centre of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, it is also the region with the highest levels of tuberculosis in Belgium. According to a report from Belgian ministers, the city has a rate of the disease three to four times that of the rest of the country.

MP Bianca Debaets, a member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD-V), who requested the TB data, noted the prevalence of the disease among asylum seekers, saying: “Between July 2017 and May 2019, 45 cases of tuberculosis were diagnosed among refugees in Maximilian Park.”

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