This consent is not properly informed because of the untruths expressed about the situation by the government or its representatives. Parents can choose whether or not to send their children to school. School staff can choose to continue or not to work, a choice not really free when a salary is at stake. But this choice is not offered to the part of the population that does not have a say in the matter, all those who can be infected following contamination in schools. Subjecting part of the population to such an experiment without their informed consent is in violation of our moral principles, our laws and the Nuremberg Code.
Spokesperson for the "Belgian Pediatric Covid-19 Task Force," Dimitri Van der Linden tells us "Wearing a mask is neither necessary nor realistic at this age [5-12 years], children must live normally. We should not impose this mental burden on them and create a generation of anxious people. "
One wonders how a group of pediatricians may at first think it is unrealistic for primary school children to wear a mask. Look in China, children are capable of it, and in fact children love to imitate adult behavior: if we do, they will follow us. Then there is no reason to think that it would generate anxiety in children, teachers will be happy to explain that science teaches us that the virus is in the air even if we cannot see it, and that we all put on a mask to protect each other.
Perhaps the youngest will need a few days to feel comfortable, as with all learning. They learn to look on each side before crossing a street, to put on their seat belts, to brush their teeth, all of which can only reduce anxiety when one understands how they protect us. One wonders how a group of pediatricians can think that the mental burden of wearing a mask, if it existed, could be greater than the trauma for a child to be responsible, involuntarily, for a serious illness in his family?
Mrs. Wilmà ¨s, since the very beginning of this crisis, the government and its experts have minimized the reality of the danger posed by this new coronavirus. Unfortunately, this error persists, the government and its experts still minimize the reality of the danger posed by this new coronavirus. It's toxic. The result is that people are confused and the government is making decisions that are not based on the reality of the virus.
You defend collective intelligence to address this crisis, and if there can be no lie, there can be no untruth either. The motto of my alma mater is Scientia vincere tenebras, but science is powerless when the political power decides to listen only to the voices that suit it. It seems that in Europe the Age of Enlightenment has given way to a new obscurantism, and it is your responsibility as head of government to do everything to repudiate these untruths and rule the country on the basis of reason.
I had already communicated to you my rational plan to get Belgium out of confinement, and for members of the government and parliament who would not be aware of it, it is published in the Journal du Spe'cialiste.
When you make your decisions at the next National Security Council, it can be said that economic considerations will not trump health considerations, certainly, but politics is about reaching a compromise. A virus does not care about political considerations, it is transmitted as we breathe when we interact. Today's reality is simply that we're not yet ready to come out of containment. I cannot keep on trusting a government that would continue to reject the principle of reality, a feeling that can only be increasingly shared in our country.
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