An empty tourist area of Brussels, Belgium, is shown in this image from June 2020 Shutterstock

An empty tourist area of Brussels, Belgium, is shown in this image from June 2020 Shutterstock

The move comes at a time when Belgium is witnessing record covid-19 rates amongst its 11m population. Politico reports that over the last week alone, Belgium has seen over 2,300 infections, 81 hospitalisations and 10 deaths on average per day. On Wednesday, the daily infection number exceeded 2,400. 

In Brussels it will also be prohibited to imbibe outdoors. 

The move comes just days after Belgium tightened national controls which then included 11pm closures for bars and a maximum of four people per table. 

On Friday, Belgian authorities will make additional decisions on possible measures required, which may impact, for example, educational facilities.