China is currently battling an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, officially renamed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as Covid-19. The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce expresses sincere condolences to all those who have lost loved ones and sympathy to those who are ill and suffering as a result of the virus outbreak. We wish those who are ill a speedy recovery.

Statistics

The latest statistics of cases and deaths can be consulted on:

Johns Hopkins University’s CSSE page:
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: Situation update worldwide
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases

Covid-19 Tracker by Bing (Microsoft): https://bing.com/covid

nCov2019.live: https://ncov2019.live

Travel restrictions

Traveling abroad for non-essential purposes is now prohibited in Belgium. Traveling abroad for non-essential purposes is now prohibited in Belgium. The People’s Republic of China has closed its border to entry by foreign passport holders, even if they hold valid visas or residence permits. There are some exceptions, including for diplomats. Travelers who have an urgent and valid reason to go to China may apply for new visas at Chinese Embassies and Consulates abroad. International flights to and from China are severely restricted to one destination abroad per airline served once a week. Those flights are now reserved mainly for Chinese citizens and students returning to China.

International flights with destination Beijing are diverted to one of 12 alternative airports for the purpose of screening passengers. Those exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19 will be tested and if required taken to a hospital for treatment. Those passengers cleared by the quarantine authorities will be allowed to reboard the aircraft and continue their flight to Beijing where they will be taken to designated sites for 14 days of quarantine at their own expense.

Economic impact

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and the German Chamber have released their report “COVID-19 Survey Report:The Impact on European Business in China”, which can be downloaded in PDF: https://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/en/press-releases/3161

Capital Economics: The Covid-19 Coronavirus and its economic impact:
https://www.capitaleconomics.com/the-economic-effects-of-the-coronavirus/

OECD: Coronavirus: the world economy at risk: http://www.oecd.org/economic-outlook/

WHO – Getting your workplace ready for COVID-19:
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/getting-workplace-ready-for-covid-19.pdf

Scientific info

Scientific information about the virus is available on the 2019-nCoV Resource Center page of the famous medical publication The Lancet: https://www.thelancet.com/coronavirus

The World Health Organization (WHO) also has a special page on the virus:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

New England Journal of Medicine study of 1,099 Covid-19 patients:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2002032

China Daily: Fighting Covid-19 The Chinese Way: https://covid-19.chinadaily.com.cn

How to protect yourself

Advice to the public about how to protect oneself against the virus is also available from the WHO:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

The VUB has developed a Corona Virus Test: http://huis.vub.ac.be/corona/

In Belgium the reference lab to test for the coronavirus is at the KULeuven. There are two reference hospitals to treat patients: Sint-Pieters hospital in Brussels and the University Hospital Antwerp.

Advisory notices

Travel advice of the Belgian Foreign Ministry:
Mainland China: https://diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/Diensten/Op_reis_in_het_buitenland/reisadviezen/china
Hong Kong SAR:
https://diplomatie.belgium.be/nl/Diensten/Op_reis_in_het_buitenland/reisadviezen/hong_kong_sar

The info page of the Belgian federal authorities (in Dutch) is at https://www.info-coronavirus.be/nl

Flanders’ sites (in Dutch)

Flanders Investment & Trade Export Advies Corona: http://www.exportadvies-corona.be

Federale Overheidsdienst Economie: Het coronavirus en zijn gevolgen:
https://economie.fgov.be/nl/themas/ondernemingen/het-coronavirus-en-zijn

Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde Covid-19 pagina:
https://www.wanda.be/nl/a-z-index/coronavirus-2019-ncov/

Agentschap Innoveren en ondernemen: Hoe kan mijn bedrijf zich beschermen tegen virussen?
https://www.vlaio.be/nl/nieuws/hoe-kan-mijn-bedrijf-zich-beschermen-tegen-virussen

UNIZO Dossier Corona: https://www.unizo.be/corona

Agoria: Dossier Corona: https://www.agoria.be/nl/Corona

Voka: Coronavirus: de meest gestelde vragen over de impact op je onderneming:
https://www.voka.be/coronavirus-faq

sdworx: “Coronavirus: de impact voor Belgische werkgevers en werknemers in 6 vragen (en antwoorden)”: https://www.sdworx.be/nl-be/blog/in-de-kijker/coronavirus-impact-belgische-bedrijven