Belgium Priority In Easing Lockdown: Open Schools And Museums

Photo illustrations (Christian Fregnan / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Recently, Belgium relaxed its lockdown policy after the number of COVID-19 transmission and deaths began to decline significantly. Several public facilities and business centers will be allowed to resume operations on Monday, May 18.

This was decided directly by the government through a limited meeting on Wednesday, May 13. Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes himself conveyed this plan. He said the easing policy would begin with the return to operations of some schools, markets, museums and zoos.

Wilmes said: We have taken the easing of the lockdown as a new step. Even so, some people considered it a step too big. Others consider it too small. However, what is clear is that the government has made an effort, and Belgians must be patient. We can't do it all at once.

Public spaces - especially schools - that reopen are expected to remain obedient to the application of physical distancing. The same is true of museums, historical buildings, and zoos. In fact, Belgians have been asked to book museum tickets in advance in order to maintain distancing rules.

Not only that, beauty salons are also reopening, with a note that customers who want to get service must make an appointment first. The rest, markets that have a maximum of 50 stalls are also allowed to open starting next Monday.

Even so, there are also businesses that are not allowed to open, such as cafes, restaurants and fitness centers. The business must remain closed for at least the next three weeks. In fact, sports and cultural events were also canceled until June 30.

So far Belgium has confirmed 53,981 cases of COVID-19 transmission. Among them, there were 8,843 deaths.