Indoor hospitality and 4 guests in your home from 9 June
Starting 9 June indoor hospitality may resume. It’s one of the decisions taken by Belgium’s consultative committee that represents all Belgian governments and has the final say on corona restrictions.
The committee has agreed several target dates that each should allow further relaxations: 9 June, 1 July, 30 July, 13 August and 1 September.
Starting 9 June restaurants and bars will be permitted to serve customers indoors. Indoor hospitality will be allowed from 8AM to 10PM. Outside hospitality may stay open till 11:30PM. Parties will be limited to 4 individuals unless there are more people in your household. Fairs, fitness centres, public saunas, indoor play areas, casinos, bowling alleys, tropical swimming pools, cinemas and theatres will all be allowed to reopen on this date. Visitors will also have access to indoor settings at zoos and amusement parks.
Events indoors may welcome 200 seated participants, outdoors 400 masked and observing physical distancing.
Up to 100 people will be allowed to participate in faith ceremonies indoors. Outdoors the figure is 200.
Up to 50 people can take part in non-professiona sports activities indoors, 100 outdoors. 50 people can take part in youth camps without overnight stays.
Also starting 9 June households will be able to invite 4 people into their home. The figure is set to increase over the summer.
Homeworkers will be allowed to attend their regular workplace one day a week from 9 June. No more than a fifth of workers will be permitted to attend at one time. At SMEs the figure will rise to half the workforce.
Starting 1 July homeworking will no longer be mandatory, but will remain highly recommended.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels PM Alexander De Croo (Flemish liberal) explained that the relaxations are being linked to epidemiological conditions: the number of patients in hospital must be under 500 at all times for further relaxations to kick in and for existing relaxations to be maintained. Vaccination numbers and the situation in hospitals and especially in critical care will guide the relaxations. By 9 June 80% of over 65s and people with underlying health issues will have been vaccinated.
Starting 1 July restrictions of the number of people who accompany you to the shops and the time you spend in a store disappear. Up to 200 people can participate in indoor faith ceremonies, 400 outdoors. Indoor events are limited to 2,000 participants, outdoors 2,500.
With regard to foreign travel Belgian health ministers will now draw up a list of green countries that necessitate no quarantine on return. Talks with the EU on the European corona certificate are being held.
For the relaxations on 1 July 60% of adults will have to be vaccinated. By the end of July 70% of adults must be vaccinated for the relaxations to proceed. Mr De Croo was optimistic goals could be reached: 4 out of 10 adults are currently vaccinated. The vaccination campaign is pressing ahead with up to a million people being vaccinated in forthcoming weeks.
More people will gradually be permitted to attend big events too in July and August.
By August mass events indoors will be able to accommodate 3,000 people. Outdoors the figure rises to 5,000 outdoors. Starting 13 August specific events will be given a licence for more than 5,000 participants. Participants will have to be able to show they are vaccinated or be tested.
By 1 September as many restrictions as possible should disappear.