Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeTrendingBelgium to Impose Nationwide Lockdown to Battle COVID-19 Outbreak

Belgium to Impose Nationwide Lockdown to Battle COVID-19 Outbreak

Brussels:- The Belgium government has declared that a national lockdown will be forced on Monday after the nation was reported to have the highest COVID-19 infection rate in Europe.

Under the new lockdown, unimportant shops and organizations offering individual services like hair salons will stay shut across Belgium until the mid of December, the BBC revealed.

While crowding in public spaces will be restricted to a limit of four individuals, general stores will be permitted to sell just fundamental goods.

Families will be allowed to have only one visitor and the incumbent night-time curfew measures and closings of bars and restaurants will proceed.

In an announcement on Friday, Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke eased fears, saying the new lockdown “won’t dive people into isolation”.

The BBC cited Vandenbroucke as saying “It’s a lockdown, but a lockdown that allows factories to operate, that will allow schools to open cautiously.”

It is already compulsory to work from home and that will remain. The current 12 PM to 5 am federal curfew will proceed and restaurants and bars will stay closed.

Schools will, however, resume on 16 November after an extended half-term break and individuals won’t need to give a reason to leave their homes.

College courses will be conducted virtually at least until December 1. From that point onward, first-year students will be permitted to attend on-location.

Funerals can be held with up to 15 individuals, without a ceremony later on.

While declaring the new measures, Prime Minister Alexander de Croo stated the nation “finds itself in a health emergency”, adding that “These are last-chance measures if we want to get the figures down.”

In the initial COVID-19 wave at the beginning of this year, Belgium endured one of the highest death rates on the planet.

It currently has the highest infection rate in Europe with the greater part of the 2,000 beds in its intensive care units (ICU) already occupied by affected patients.

Over the last fourteen days, the nation saw 1,600 new cases and 8.4 deaths per 100,000 individuals, as indicated by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

Belgium’s general caseload has expanded to 412,314 as of Saturday, while the death count remained at 11,452.