The Belgian government on Tuesday announced new restrictions on social life and gatherings starting Friday in order to fight the spread of the coronavirus, including the closing of bars and cafes at 11 p.m.
For eight days, this closing time had to be respected in Brussels.
The measure will now be extended to the whole country from Friday for a period of one month.
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In addition, each individual will only be allowed to see, without a mask, "
a maximum of three people
" (excluding members of the household), what the Belgian authorities have called "
the close contact bubble
".
Until now a "
bubble
" of five people was allowed.
The figures for the spread of the virus "
are bad, very bad even in certain places
", explained the Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke at a press conference.
Belgium, a country of 11.5 million inhabitants, on Tuesday recorded 132,203 cases of coronavirus and 10,078 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
There have been more than 30,000 new positive tests since September 20.
Above all, the health authorities noted, more than 500 new hospitalizations were recorded during the first week of October, and the daily average of deaths went back above 10 (against three at the beginning of September).
"
The situation in our country is worrying (...) What we are asking is not easy but it is really necessary to avoid what we experienced in March and April
", insisted the Prime Minister, Alexander From Croo.
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Cafés, bars and refreshments of sports clubs and associations will close at 11 pm because "
it is after that the rate of contamination becomes high
", according to Mr. Vandenbroucke.
On the other hand, nothing changes for the hours of the restaurants, specified the minister.
But the new restrictions also concern the number of guests around the same table, both outdoors and indoors: it will be four maximum (excluding members of the household).
Ditto for festive gatherings and dinners at home.
Each home will only accommodate a maximum of four guests.
The government also announced the appointment of a “
Covid-19 commissioner
” who will be responsible for improving communication on the pandemic between the country's multiple federated entities.
The post goes to the Flemish senior official Pedro Facon, who since 2017 was the number one of the Health Care Directorate at the Ministry of Health.