You will only be allowed to go to work once a week, with the aim of reducing encounters as much as possible and also decongesting public transport
Belgium will tighten the “barrier” measures against the coronavirus as of this weekend to try to contain the new peak in the advance of the pandemic, for example imposing teleworking at least four days a week for the next three weeks, reintroducing the obligation of the mask indoors and in the event of crowds outdoors.
This has been agreed by the federal and regional governments in a meeting for the control of the pandemic that has been several days ahead of what was expected due to the worsening of the situation.
“The situation is very worrying, the threshold of 500 occupied ICU beds (by COVID-19 patients) has been exceeded,” said the Prime Minister, the Flemish liberal Alexander de Croo, who has appealed to the collective effort and has stressed that “if it were not for the vaccinated population, we would be confined today.”
Among the main modifications announced, the return to teleworking in all sectors where possible stands out, so that it will only be allowed to go to the workplace once a week, with the aim of reducing encounters as much as possible and also decongesting public transport.
The authorities have wanted to insist on the urgency of respecting the measures and insisted that the strategy has been revised with the commitment not to close any sector for now.
Regarding the use of the mask, which was no longer mandatory in outdoor spaces or in places that were accessed with the Covid Certificate, such as bars or restaurants, the decision is to require its use again in bars and restaurants when the client moves in the premises and also in open spaces in case of high concentration of public.
On the table of policy makers it was also imposing the mask on children from the age of nine in schools, but finally the general rule provides for its use in secondary school classes and before, from the age of ten, only in public interiors such as shops or transportation, but not in schools.
However, the Flanders region has already specified that it will impose the mask for students in the last years of primary school, that is, from the age of ten.
“We are experiencing an explosion of infections,” warned the Minister of Health, Frank Vandenbroucke, who pointed out that this week there were 19,300 positives per day and that a total of 45 patients died on Monday, compared to 27 on Monday previous.
CO2 meters in companies and schools
In addition to the barrier measures of distance and vaccination – with the commitment to have a booster dose for the entire population between next January and April – the federal government has stressed the importance of ventilating closed spaces.
For this reason, the authorities have agreed that CO2 concentration meters be installed in all schools and companies, while calling for frequent airing of rooms where people gather.
The Covid Certificate will also be a requirement for those who want to attend outdoor Christmas markets and in hospitality and leisure establishments such as bars and nightclubs, where the use of a mask will be mandatory even presenting the immunization certificate. Clubs will be able to avoid masks for their clients if they have a health professional who performs quick tests at the entrance.
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