Belgian govt tightens coronavirus restrictions ‘to prevent general lockdown’

Belgium announced new measures on Monday including a sharp reduction in permitted social contact after a surge of coronavirus infections in the past three weeks.

PM Sophie Wilmes told reporters that, from Wednesday, a Belgian family or those living together would only be able to meet five other people, sharply down from 15 at present.

The numbers allowed to attend public events will be halved to 100 inside and 200 outside. Wilmes also said people should work from home as much as possible.

“We are acting again today to keep the situation under control and to prevent a general lockdown,” Wilmes said. Those infected appeared to be more contagious than when the country went into lockdown in mid-March, Reuters quoted the PM as saying.