Belgium travel restrictions: Can I travel to Belgium? 12 European countries BANNED
BELGIUM travel restrictions lifted in the immediate aftermath of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as countries gradually assert control over the worst of their localised infections. Can you travel to Belgium?
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Belgium, alongside a host of other countries, has now reopened in the wake of COVID-19. While tourism is still subdued, some people have set off for the country, which headquarters the European Union. Those hoping to undertake a trip to Belgium sometime soon may want to move their holiday, as the Government will likely move it to the travel ban list.
Can you travel to Belgium?
The Government has now added Belgium to its quarantined travel list.
Grant Shapps announced the new move from Twitter today, after speculation the Government was planning to do so.
He said people returning from the country, alongside Andorra and the Bahamas will have to isolate on their return.
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He said: "Data shows we need to remove Andorra, Belgium and The Bahamas from our list of #coronavirus Travel Corridors in order to keep infection rates DOWN.
"If you arrive in the UK after 0400 Saturday from these destinations, you will need to self-isolate for 14 days."
In a separate Tweet, he said: "Data shows that we are now able to add BRUNEI and MALAYSIA to the Government’s Travel Corridor list following a decrease in confirmed cases of #coronavirus.
"From 04:00 on Tuesday, passengers arriving in England from these destinations will no longer be required to self-isolate."
Belgium, the Bahamas and Andorra will join Spain and Luxembourg on the quarantine list.
Officials added both countries to the schedule within days of each other last month, after authorities noted case spikes.
The new consideration comes as Belgian authorities recorded a resurgence in coronavirus cases.
At the beginning of August, infections passed 70,000 in the country, which holds one of the most significant COVID-19 deaths per capita.
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Officials placed parts of the country under stricter measures once more in a bid to curb the disease.
As of August 6, COVID-19 has killed 9,800 of the 11 million-strong Belgian population.
Germany's Foreign Ministry has advised against "all but essential" travel to Antwerp, which is recording roughly 300 new cases per day.
Belgium itself has banned travel to 12 European countries it deemed high risk.
These include:
- The Swiss Canton of Geneva
- The Mayenne department of northern France
- The Basque region of Navarre
- Lithuania
- Vukovar-Srijem in Croatia
- Four regions in Romania
- Two regions in Bulgaria
- The city of Leicester in the UK