By Francesco Guarascio
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium will intensify COVID-19 containment measures on 25 July after a build-up of infections, Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said, it is not easy to use masks in crowded public spaces and tracking measures in restaurants and bars.
The house of the Headquarters of the European Union and NATO imposed a closure on 18 March in an effort to involve the epidemic, which has claimed 9808 lives in a country with one of the world’s per capita mortality rates.
The government later eased the blockade and planned to ease restrictions on Thursday, but a series of localized outbreaks and a 91% increase in national infections last week forced a U.S. change.
“The most recent figures don’t cause us to panic, but they’re taken seriously,” Wilmes said at a news convention on Thursday.
Under the new measures, Belgians will be required to wear a mask in public, adding to outdoor markets, buying groceries, streets and crowded places.
Stricter measures will also be imposed in bars and restaurants, where the mask will be mandatory for those who are not seated. Customers will also want to leave their touch data for easy tracking in the event of a localized outbreak. Night sales will close at 10 p.m.
Local government can also repair the total blockade of communities if epidemiological knowledge warrants it.
However, the government has refrained from imposing stricter restrictions, such as controls on all travellers or shorter schedules for bars and restaurants. But before entering Belgium, travellers must complete a directory of electronic forms with the places they have visited.
Belgians will be allowed to meet up to 15 friends a week after the government has not reduced the number to 10, Wilmes said.
An easing of restrictions could be announced on Sept. 1, Wilmes said, potentially allowing a resumption of trade fairs.
(Reporting through Francesco Guarascio; Edited through David Goodman and Lisa Shumaker)