Belgium to tighten COVID rules to counter rise of omicron
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/12/2021 (1739 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium will further tighten coronavirus restrictions because of the surging omicron variant, authorities announced Wednesday, but the country shied away from a full lockdown like in the neighboring Netherlands.
Cinemas, theaters and concert halls will be closed and indoor activities banned in Belgium. Sports fans won’t be allowed into stadiums and indoor venues. Shopping will be curtailed with visitors spread out and groups entering a shop limited to two adults, possibly accompanied by children.
Bars and restaurants will be allowed to remain open until 11 p.m. but under limits. And families were advised to keep visitors to a minimum for Christmas but did not face exact limits.
The measures will take effect Sunday. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said “there is reason for concern. We are facing omicron.”
He added that “what we know about it is bad news,” referring to omicron’s high transmissibility.
“It is a tough package,” virologist Marc Van Ranst said.
But much about the omicron variant remains unknown, including whether it causes more or less severe illness.
The Belgian measures came despite a strong and steady decline in new COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions. The government said, however, that the lightning fast transmission of omicron made it necessary to take action earlier rather than later.
“It will be dominant soon,” said De Croo. “We have to be more careful that ever.”
Emmanuel Andre, who heads Belgium’s COVID-19 reference lab, said omicron represented 27% of new cases, doubling in as many days.
Since last weekend, Belgium’s northern neighbor, The Netherlands, has closed all nonessential stores, bars and restaurants until Jan. 14 and shut schools and universities until Jan. 9.
Belgium’s major carnival, in Aalst, was canceled even if the festival drawing tens of thousands of visitors each year was slated for late February.
Belgium’s daily new COVID-19 cases have declined 36% over the week ending Sunday, to reach about 8,300 in the nation of 11 million. Hospital admissions have declined 34% to reach 173 a day.
The number of COVID-19 dead has surpassed 28,000.
___
Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
