Restaurants and bars in Belgium will be allowed to take visitors indoors from June 9, and fully vaccinated people will be exempt from testing after returning from abroad.
This was stated by Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, according to Politico.
“We have come a long way in the past months. We managed to turn the dangerous situation into a favorable forecast for the summer, “ De Croo said.
The June 9 date was set for early May and confirmed on Friday. Bars and restaurants will be open until 23: 30 and the current social distancing rules will continue to apply.
The easing of restrictions, scheduled for June 9, can continue as long as the limit of fewer than 500 patients with coronavirus in the intensive care unit is met.
According to the Belgian Institute of Public Health Sciensano, on Thursday there were 364 of them. Since May 27, this figure has been below the 500 marks.
It has also been decided that people returning to Belgium from a country in the so-called red zone and not fully vaccinated will have to be tested on arrival. However, people who have been fully vaccinated for at least two weeks will not be tested on their return.
There will be no quarantine for arrivals from outside Belgium if the traveler is either fully vaccinated, cured of COVID-19, or has received a negative PCR result within 72 hours. This does not apply to arrivals from areas considered “high risk”.
