Lockdown is not quite over yet, but we are a lot closer to normal now. I have been keeping an anxious eye on the daily numbers of COVID-19 cases in hospital, those in ICUs and fatalities, and all are now down to pre-lockdown levels. The Belgian government has stopped its daily press conferences and will do a weekly update instead. We are lucky – the numbers are now grimly rising in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, India and Pakistan (and Iran seems to be having a second wave) – not to mention the continuing horror in the United States.

The restaurants opened a week ago and I went for lunch with a colleague:

The Belgian prime minister bilingually posted about her own meal with her (Australian) husband. (More than one of my colleagues looked at the tweet and said they knew the restaurant – I have eaten there too, but only outside which is why I didn’t recognise it!)

Vandaag heropent de #horeca! Ik heb ervan geprofiteerd om samen met mijn man iets te gaan eten. Voor wie een sector wil steunen die zwaar geleden heeft is dat de makkelijkste manier, en ook veruit de gezelligste. ( Photonews) pic.twitter.com/Qw6YyzZIAk

— Sophie Wilmès (@Sophie_Wilmes) June 8, 2020

En ce 8 juin, l’#Horeca rouvre ! Nous avons profité avec mon mari d’un court instant dans la journée pour afficher notre soutien à ce secteur de la manière la plus simple et la plus conviviale possible: en partageant un bon repas. ( Photonews) pic.twitter.com/8SH5sT8oc8

— Sophie Wilmès (@Sophie_Wilmes) June 8, 2020

Back on 7 April I did a videoblog about our village, ending with the hope that I would sometime soon be able to enjoy a beer at the nearest pub:

Well, last night was the night it happened at last:

(Note very young fellow customer in the background.)

Friday will be B’s birthday, and we will go and see her for the first time since the lockdown. U will have to wait a bit longer, unfortunately, given her needs and the logistics of continuing restrictions. But the trajectory is upwards.