The Belgian Foreign Ministry added Paris to its list of European destinations that are no longer authorized on Wednesday, unless they undergo a return screening for the coronavirus and a period of isolation.
Romania, certain Bulgarian and Croatian regions, a large part of Spain and three French departments (Bouches-du-Rhône, Guyana, Mayotte) were already classified in “red zone”.
Paris and the neighboring departments of Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne, as well as those of Sarthe (center-west), Hérault and Alpes-Maritimes (south) were added on Wednesday, according to the ministry website.
The Belgian health authorities consider that stays abroad are an important risk factor for the spread of the virus in the kingdom, where new contaminations (less than 500 per day) are again trending downwards after an upsurge in July - August.
In August, 22% of people who tested positive returned from a trip, according to figures released Wednesday by the scientific institute of public health Sciensano.
Resurgence of the epidemic
In addition, in Brussels this month, only a minority (40%) of travelers returning from red zones agreed to undergo screening, which was theoretically compulsory, the Belga news agency reported.
Spain and France are among the countries where the circulation of the coronavirus is again considered problematic or even worrying.
On Wednesday, French Prime Minister Jean Castex called on the country's population "to be responsible" in the face of the resurgence of the epidemic. "A few weeks ago there were still 1,000 cases per day that were diagnosed, we are (today) around 3,000", he stressed.
Read also: Compulsory tests and quarantine: Germany tightens the screw for France
Before Belgium, Germany had already classified Paris two days ago as a "risk zone" for the virus, alongside the other departments of Ile-de-France and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region .
All of Spain, with the exception of the Canary Islands, as well as the Belgian capital Brussels and several regions of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia are considered in the same way by the German authorities. Returning vacationers must undergo a mandatory test and quarantine.