BRUSSELS (AP) – Belgium is banning all leisure travel abroad for its citizens starting next week and until March, in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 and its virulent variants.
Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Friday that “when people travel, the virus accompanies them”.
He said visitors from Britain, South Africa and South America would have to be quarantined for ten days to ensure that they did not bring dangerous variants to Belgium.
The change came a day after the 27 leaders of the European Union said that the borders within the bloc should remain open to ensure essential transport and movement for workers, but left it up to member states to take other measures they deemed necessary.
In Belgium, only essential business, family and humanitarian travel will still be allowed from next week until March. Last year, Belgium recorded an increase in the number of cases after public holidays due to the return of travelers. February is the traditional month for Belgians to ski in the Alps or fly south for warmth.
The EU itself is also preparing measures that should make travel more difficult, including the introduction of new cross-border “dark red zones” where infection rates are particularly high and where all non-essential travel should be discouraged. Travelers in these areas can be tested before departure and placed in isolation when arriving at another location.
One of the most affected countries in Europe, Belgium has reported more than 686,000 confirmed infections and 20,620 coronavirus-related deaths.
In recent weeks, Belgium has managed to contain the spread of the virus better than many other EU countries and De Croo said he did not want to put that at risk by allowing holiday travel during the critical month next.
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