The Belgian government issued new regulations to tackle the #COVID19 pandemic in Belgium on the evening of Thursday 12 March. From the night of Friday 13 March, all schools in Belgium are closed until after the Easter holidays, however some school facilities will remain open to children of parents working in healthcare etc and creches remain open.

All events, whether indoor or outdoor and regardless of size, are cancelled and cafes and restaurants will close. Pharmacies and food stores can stay open all week long, but other stores must close at the weekend. Public transport will run as normal, but should only be used for essential travel.

Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmès advised companies to allow employees to work from home wherever possible and non-essential meetings should be cancelled or conducted via teleconferencing. Care homes for the elderly will not admit any visitors until the end of March.

Belgium is now in the "federal phase" of crisis management, which means that the federal government can make orders applying to the whole of Belgium in areas that would not normally be in their competence.

See more (in French), including the full video of the government press conference, here.