France’s neighbour, Belgium, tightens COVID-19 measures as infections spike

Belgium is to tighten measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 after a spike in infections, introducing compulsory face masks in crowded outdoor public spaces. Brussels imposed a lockdown on 18 March in an attempt to contain the coronavirus epidemic, which has claimed 9,808 lives to date. With a population of just 11.5 million, Belgium is one of the nations per capita that has been hardest hit by the virus, although it has said that was partly due to its transparency . The government eased the lockdown in early May, and it had planned to loosen restrictions further on Thursday. But a series of localised outbreaks and a 91 percent spike in nationwide infections last week forced the government to think again. “The latest figures should not throw us into panic but have to be taken seriously,” Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes told a news conference on Thursday