In the Brussels-Capital Region, corona measures are being tightened to control the increasing number of infections. That was decided after crisis consultation.
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Cafés and bars in the Brussels Region must close from Monday at 11 pm, instead of at 1 am. Restaurants don’t have to close earlier. In addition, there is also a prohibition on gathering between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.: no more than ten people may then be together in public. The measures will apply for three weeks, but would be evaluated for the first time on 6 October.
Inge Neven of the Brussels Health Inspectorate explains these decisions: ‘If we look at the origin of the infections, we see important sources of infection in cafes and bars.’ She also calls for the number of close contacts to be really limited, ‘because that is where most infections happen’.
Mondmaskers
After the National Security Council last Wednesday, the Brussels Region decided to abolish the general mouth mask obligation from 1 October. That decision will not be reversed for the time being, but the nineteen municipalities can now decide for themselves in which busy streets they require mouth masks. Mouth masks are also compulsory in the vicinity of schools. Which streets are involved will be determined later.
Everyone must also always have a mouth mask with them on the territory of the Region. Those who do not have one in their pocket risk a fine of 150 euros.
Crisis consultation
The decisions are the result of a crisis meeting that started at 5 pm on Saturday afternoon and lasted almost three hours. It was organized by the High Civil Servant Viviane Scholliers. She convened the nineteen mayors. Inge Neven and representatives of the six Brussels police zones also joined.
According to The evening was initially 10 pm as closing time for the cafes, but the mayors would have pushed that to 11 pm to support the catering industry a little more.
Bad grades
The number of corona infections in Brussels continues to rise rapidly. In the week of September 16-22, 2,353 new cases were added, 714 more than in the previous seven days. That is an increase of 44 percent.
The positivity ratio is also the highest: 9.5 percent. That is, on 100 covid tests, 9.5 are positive. That figure is much higher than in the other provinces.
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