Belgium on Thursday imposed tighter restrictions to fight the spread of the coronavirus, with mask wearing to be made compulsory once again in public places from Saturday.
New rules will require residents to wear a face covering even in outdoor crowded places such as markets and busy shopping streets, Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said.
The move came as the countryrecorded a concerning increase in numbers of infections.
Guests at restaurants and bars must, under the new rules, leave their contact details so that they can be traced and informed in case of an outbreak, the News Agency Belga reported.
Late night stores must close at 10p.m. (0800 GMT) to avoid crowd gathering.
The existing rule that residents are to limit their contacts to 15 people per week is to remain in place for the time being.
Belgium has reported a rise in new coronavirus infections over the past week, with an average of 193 new cases a day over the past seven days.
On Monday, the country of 11 million people recorded 360 new cases.
“We won the first battle, but the fight against the coronavirus is definitely not over,’’ said Wilmes.
