Fifth anniversary of Belgium's coronavirus shutdown

As Thursday marks the five-year anniversary of Belgium’s coronavirus shutdown, some are calling for a commemoration, others a memorial and others a formal evaluation of the long-term impact of the pandemic.

More than 30,000 people in Belgium died after contracting the coronavirus, with more 280 people dying each day at the pandemic’s peak in spring 2020. Brussels was hit especially hard.

The pandemic could be linked to more than 18 million deaths worldwide between the end of 2020 and the end of 2021, according to a study in medical journal The Lancet.

It was at midnight on 13 March 2020 that all bars and restaurants in Belgium were ordered to close, lessons in schools were cancelled and restrictions on shopping were introduced.

Less than a week later, on 18 March, all Belgian residents were told to stay at home to limit the spread of coronavirus - with the exception of essential outings such as to buy food or medicine.

“Why not organise a corona festival in the city, with music, theatre and exhibitions, where everyone can share their own story about the pandemic?” Dutch anthropologist Irene Stengs (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) told Bruzz.

“If you do nothing, it’s as if nothing happened. We must at least consider how the suffering that has befallen so many people can be recognised.

"I’m talking not only about the relatives of those who died of Covid-19 who were not able to say goodbye, but also about long-term Covid-19 patients who are still ill. For them, the crisis is not over. There is no closure."

Stengs has been researching collective mourning rituals for years.

“It covers a broad spectrum: when we express strong emotions together, such as anger, frustration, sadness, horror or empathy, it’s often triggered by a death in the public domain, such as a traffic accident, a natural disaster or a violent attack,” said Stengs.

“The difference with the Covid crisis is that there was not one death, one time or one place: the disaster took place in our own homes and hospitals for a long time.

Stengs noted that this also makes choosing a single day of commemoration or a suitable place for a memorial difficult.

“The fact that the coronavirus monument in Brussels is not being used means that it’s not working – you will never reach everyone with just flowers or crane origami, but the longer you wait to commemorate a disaster, the more complicated it becomes,” Stengs said, adding that any kind of commemoration would also have to come with meaningful action, for example improvements of working conditions in the healthcare sector.

VUB researcher Bert Quintiens works on the concept of "compassionate cities", meaning cities that pay attention to the end of life, and sees potential for community-centric actions.

“You can organise discussion cafes about this, but also class discussions in primary schools,” Quintiens told Bruzz.

“That's how we give words to loss. More green space in a city is also comforting… For a while, Covid made death more open to discussion, both in the news and in some television programmes. That has now died down again.”

A commemoration or "corona festival" is not currently being considered in Brussels, although health administration Vivalis has said that it does have a risk management plan ready for future crises.

“We can adapt it flexibly to any type of crisis, to distribute responsibilities and make decisions more quickly,” said spokesperson Frédéric Pellissier.

“Our crisis unit, which was set up during the pandemic, is already dealing with measles outbreaks and the drug problems around Brussels-Midi.”

A separate plan has also been drawn under outgoing health minister Alain Maron (Ecolo) regarding residential care centres, which would allow them to open their doors to local residents in the event of another health crisis.

“What I still miss in the debate, both from politicians and in the media, is a real reflection on the choices made at the time,” said bereavement coach Katleen Van Langendonck.

“I have been so angry about how we left old and sick people to fend for themselves. Those who had to say goodbye to loved ones via video call are still suffering.”

Van Langendonck is in talks with the Nekkersdal community centre to raise awareness of the existing pandemic memorial and to better honour the 4,500 Brussels residents who died of Covid.

“The problem is that no one is picking up the case now that there is no Brussels government,” she told Bruzz.

While experts have different ideas for how to reflect on the pandemic five years on, residents are likewise divided, with some saying they want to avoid "opening old wounds" and others calling for collective mourning.

“We have not even begun to process it,” said sociologist Beate Völker (Utrecht University), an expert in friendships and social contact who emphasises that the mental and emotional consequences of the pandemic are still being felt.

“The pandemic seems like a long time ago, but it’s not really over. We have put it in a box that we prefer to keep closed. Yet it’s part of our lives. Many people have lost loved ones, others are still ill. To get over it, you have to share those stories and listen to each other.”