Belgium tightens coronavirus rules again as new infections soar

Belgium has reinstated the requirement to wear masks in indoor public spaces and the strong recommendation to work from home, following a 109% increase in new coronavirus infections in the past fortnight.

Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo said the coronavirus consultative committee meeting had met urgently on Tuesday - three days earlier than planned - in response to "a sudden and very rapid" increase in infection numbers.

From Friday (29 October), masks will again be compulsory, nationwide, in shops, cafes, restaurants and other indoor public spaces.

This mainly affects Flanders, which chose to follow the federal government's recommendation to relax the coronavirus rules on 1 October. Brussels and Wallonia chose to maintain the previous, stricter rules on masks.

The requirement to wear masks indoors also applies to staff in cafes, restaurants and in gyms.

The Covid Safe Ticket - which proves that someone has been fully vaccinated, recently tested negative or recently recovered from the virus - will be required nationwide in cafes and restaurants (except outdoor terraces) from 1 November and at all events bringing together at least 200 people indoors and 400 people outdoors from this Friday.

Organisers of smaller events can still choose to impose the Covid Safe Ticket if they wish. In Brussels and Wallonia, lower limits for the CST are already in place - 50 people indoors and 200 outdoors.

The strong recommendation to work from home is also back in place, again from Friday.

"If we did not have the vaccine today, we would have been faced with a catastrophic situation in our hospitals," De Croo added.

The Belgian federal government has also activated its new Pandemic Law, for a period of three months, which gives it the power to pass emergency royal decrees relating to coronavirus restrictions. These measures are then examined in parliament within two weeks.