Belgium has lifted its last-remaining Covid restrictions, including a ban on non-essential travel from outside the EU and mandatory face masks.
As of today (May 23), travellers will face no Covid entry restrictions when travelling to Belgium, as Passenger Locator Forms, Covid tests and quarantine rules have all been dropped.
But Belgium’s prime minister, Alexander De Croo, said people travelling to the country where there is a new “variant of concern” will still need to adhere to the former entry rules.
“However, this does not apply to travellers coming from a country with a new variant of concern,” he said in a press release. “For them, the current rules continue to apply.”
The obligation to wear a face mask has been lifted everywhere in the country, except in hospitals, doctor’s offices and pharmacies, where children age 12 and above must continue to wear one.
The Consultation Committee said the decision to reduce Covid measures is a result of low numbers of hospitalisations as well as a downward trend in new cases.
Belgium joins the growing list of destinations to ease Covid rules, following in the footsteps of Madeira which removed its mandatory mask requirement earlier this month, excluding public transport and hospitals.