Schools, cafés, restaurants and nightclubs will be closed in Belgium to fight the spread of the new coronavirus, and all gatherings will be cancelled regardless of their size and nature, said Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès on Thursday evening.
The closure of the schools, at the national level, will take effect from this weekend until Friday 3 April, announced Ms. Wilmès at a press conference following a National Security Council devoted to the pandemic.
However, schools will be able to accommodate children whose parents work in hospitals and the healthcare sector during the closure, in order to help hospitals to continue operating normally.
Crèches are to remain open; however, several universities announced earlier on Friday that lectures would be suspended.
Regarding rallies, the National Security Council - uniting the presidents of the federated entities around the main federal ministers - has taken drastic measures. All recreational, sporting, cultural or folk events are to be cancelled, regardless of size or nature.
The head of government said that all these measures valid for the three regions (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels) would come into effect from midnight on the night of Friday to Saturday, until 3 April.
Ms. Wilmès said it was not a lockdown, but a necessary measure to avoid a situation such as Italy.
Belgium, a country of 11.4 million inhabitants, has so far identified 399 cases of the virus. Three of these patients have died, a 90 year old woman and two 73 and 86 year old men.
On Thursday evening, the Prime Minister again stressed the need to protect seniors in particular.
Parents who would be forced to call on grandparents to babysit will also be able to benefit from the reception maintained in schools, she explained.
Finally, stores that do not provide essential products or services (excluding food and pharmacy) must remain closed on weekends
