The streets of Brussels were filled with hundreds on Sunday as people marched through the city to protest COVID-19 restrictions. The Belgian government has tightened its borders in response to this latest spike, which is causing major issues for travelers around Europe and beyond.
With a wave of the flag, protestors came to protest Friday’s measures announced by the government. The third week in a row that they’ve tightened their rules as another surge takes its toll on health services deprived people of other life-threatening diseases like cancer treatment.
People from all over Europe, clad in the colors of their country’s flags marched to show that they will not be silenced. They carried signs which read “United for our freedom” and criticized vaccines as well as mandatory coronavirus shot policies.
The Prime Minister of Belgium has declared that schools will be closed for the holiday season a week early and children must wear masks from age 6. All indoor events with more than 200 people are disallowed.
The government has announced that it will not be bringing forward closing times from 11pm to 8 pm. This decision was met with speculation about when and if this could happen, but as of now there is no change in plans according.
A recent coronavirus study indicates that the 11 million people in the country have reached a plateau.
In comparison to the previous week, 17,862 new weekly cases were reported, an increase of 6%. There were a 4% increase in hospital admissions. Over 3,700 hospitalized patients have the virus, including 821 in intensive care. In the first year of the outbreak, 27,000 people have died.
