Belgium, worried by the spread of the English variant of Covid-19, decided on Friday January 22 to ban "non-essential" trips to and out of its territory from January 27, until March 1.

"We are not going to build a wall around Belgium, we can go to other countries but only for essential reasons", declared the Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo in the early evening.

The Flemish liberal leader was speaking at a press conference after a government meeting, bringing together the heads of regional executives, to take stock of the epidemic.

"The situation has stabilized in recent weeks," around 2,000 new infections per day, but "the danger has not gone away," he said.

Alexander De Croo pointed out the variants of the virus "clearly more contagious" in circulation in Europe.

Hence the need to "build ramparts, lines of defense".

Quarantine and negative tests imposed on certain travelers

As of Monday, travelers from the United Kingdom, South Africa and South America (three geographical areas where a different variant has appeared) will have to observe a quarantine of ten days upon arrival in Belgium, with two compulsory tests on the first and seventh days.

For other foreigners traveling on business, it will be necessary to produce two negative tests, one carried out on departure in the country of origin, the other on arrival, the Prime Minister added.

Main measure for Belgians: from Wednesday, and until March 1, they will not be allowed to leave the borders except for compelling reasons - the exercise of co-parenting, medical treatment or a justified professional reason .

"Leisure or pleasure travel, there will be border controls with fines" are prohibited, ex-Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, president of the Walloon region, told RTBF television channel.

Frontier workers are not, however, concerned.

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Questioned by France 24, Michel Goldman, professor of medical immunology, doubts the effectiveness of this measure in the face of these highly contagious variants.

"I'm not sure it will have a huge impact. But even if it has a relatively small impact, it will always be won," he says. 

Hope lies, he said, in vaccines.

"We must hope that we arrive quickly enough [in the vaccination]. The faster we go, the more we will prevent new virulent variants from appearing," says the specialist.

According to him, "we are lucky, in Europe, to have access to vaccines, which, in the current state of knowledge, are the most effective", especially on the most vulnerable. 

Belgium, which has 11.5 million inhabitants, has already recorded more than 20,000 deaths linked to the coronavirus since March 2020.

The threat of a third wave in Belgium

If the country considers that it has contained the second wave of the autumn better than its neighbors (Germany and the Netherlands in particular), the spread of the English variant raises fears of a third wave that could again weigh heavily on the healthcare system.

This variant has already caused dozens of contaminations in retirement homes and forced the temporary closure of several schools.

By banning non-essential travel abroad, including within the Schengen free movement area, Belgium is taking the lead in relation to EU recommendations.

At the end of a summit of the leaders of the Twenty-Seven Thursday evening, the European Union had called for avoiding pleasure travel in the face of a health situation deemed "very serious".

For almost three months, Belgium has been partially confined, with schools open but multiple sectors of activity closed (cafes, restaurants, theaters, sports, etc.).

On Friday evening, Alexander De Croo announced that hairdressing salons could consider reopening, with strict safety rules, on February 13, if the health situation does not deteriorate.

With AFP

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