Antwerp under curfew as COVID-19 cases surge

17:06, 29.07.2020

Antwerp, Belgium’s most populous province, announced a curfew and other strict new regulations on Monday as the country struggles to halt a dramatic rise in new coronavirus infections.

The curfew will apply from 11:30 p.m. to 6 a.m., with only those going to work or the hospital allowed outside their homes. Face masks will be mandatory in all public spaces and working from home will also be compulsory, “except when it is absolutely impossible.”

Governor Cathy Berx called on Belgians to not make unnecessary visits to the province and told people in Antwerp to “stay at home as much as possible.”

Restaurants will remain open, a controversial decision as in Antwerp, as elsewhere across Europe, new infections rose sharply exactly two weeks after they were allowed to reopen.

Lost restaurant sandbars simply ignored the social distancing rules they were legally obliged to enforce, and did not take clients names and contact details as they were supposed to, EUtoday reported.

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