Half-time at school awaits Belgian high school and secondary school students from Monday in yet another attempt to limit the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
”"We are living in difficult times. The spread of infection here is among the highest in Europe," Prime Minister Alexander De Croo states after another extraordinary corona meeting on Friday.
Face masks will now be required from the age of six in schools, shops and on public transport. For daycare centres and primary and secondary schools, the Christmas holidays will be brought forward by one week and will now start on December 17, instead of Christmas Eve as previously planned.
In the cultural sector, a limit of a maximum of 200 seated spectators indoors is set, while all indoor sports may take place without an audience.
Previously, restaurants and bars in Belgium, among others, were required to close from 11 p.m. in the evenings and were only allowed to serve seated guests.
Belgium currently has the third highest infection rate in the EU, with 2,064 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past two weeks. The capital Brussels is also lagging behind in terms of vaccination. Overall, 76 percent of the Belgian population is fully vaccinated – but only 58 percent of Brussels residents. Source:
