Unrest In Belgian

A silent outrage over the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of health care staff a Belgium turned their backs on Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès during a hospital visit Saturday.

Wilmès visited two hospitals in the capital city of Brussels and posted on Twitter that she wanted to start a discussion with medical staff on the health crisis, the emotional burden of the job and support for health care.
Wilmès has been greeted with a cold welcome from the Saint-Pierre Hospital staff.

Health care workers slowly turned their back when Wilmès’ motorcade rolled onto the grounds in a video shared online.
According to The Brussels Times, which reported the occasion marked Wilmès’ first visits to any hospital since the start of the health crisis, some witnesses characterized it as a “guard of dishonour.”

Staff joined in the silent strike to express their frustration in how the government handled the situation, criticizing spending cuts, poor salaries, and workforce shortages, the paper was told by those serving the workers.
He said the staff were also dissatisfied with the recent government decision to hire unqualified workers to assist nurses rather than paying skilled professionals.

The hospital’s director-general, Philippe Leroy, told the paper the prime minister’s visit was “very appreciated,” adding that his staff has “gone through a lot of emotions.”

“There is fatigue, and a lot of anxiety at some points,” he said. “I think they needed to express a lot of things.”

Belgium is among the world’s most hard-hit countries. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University there are 55,559 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 9,080 deaths as of Monday.

Belgium has the highest death rate in the world for reported cases for its population of about 11.5 million citizens at 16.4 per cent, according to the report. This also had the most deaths, with 78 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared to the population.