News and Events -----------

In December 2020, The Bulletin launched its own online radio station. This English-language pop-up service – a lively mix of music, interviews, local and international news - targets Belgium’s international community.

With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting every aspect of our lives, the need to stay informed and feel connected has never been so important. As part of The Bulletin’s ongoing mission to interact with its audience, the Bulletin is inviting community groups across the country to share their stories and activities on the new radio station.

Three ways to get involved

1. Share any news about your group, details of upcoming events, initiatives and appeals – anything you think that The Bulletin’s diverse community of readers and listeners should know about!
2. Put forward a representative from your group to record an interview with the radio station about your work. This would air on The Bulletin radio and also be published as a written article on thebulletin.be.
3. If your group has a mailing list or newsletter, spread the word to your members about The Bulletin radio.

Three ways to tune in

And here are three ways to listen to The Bulletin radio:

1. Via the online player on every page of thebulletin.be – or follow this direct  link. 
2. On your Amazon smart speaker. Just ask: “Alexa, enable Bulletin radio”.
3. By downloading the free “Simple Radio” app for iOS and Android devices.

From 4am (UK time) on Monday 18 January 2021 all travellers to England will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID test. Travellers unable to present proof of a negative test result may not be able to board their chosen mode of transport and could be fined £500 on arrival into England.

The obligation applies to all traveller, including UK citizens, from all destination countries including those on the UK's travel corridors list. The COVID test must have been taken with the three days before the start of the journey to England.

More details here, including which tests are accepted by the UK authorities.

Different rules apply for travellers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A meeting of the Belgian authorities on Friday 8 January discussed the current epidemiological situation that has been moving in a positive direction for several weeks in the country. The meeting noted that the number of infections is slowly decreasing. However, despite this general downward trend, the reproduction rate is again slightly increasing (Rt = 1.004) and the occupancy of intensive care beds also remains at a high level. In addition, it is still too early to assess the possible negative impact of residents returning from other countries, the end-of-year celebrations and the reopening of schools.

In this context the authorities made the following decisions:

• Mandatory teleworking will continue and there will be more controls at the workplaces of workers who must respect a quarantine.
• Non-essential travel is still strongly discouraged. There will be more checks on compliance with the testing and quarantine requirements after non-essential travel. Controls will also be stepped up when travellers return to the roads. The current travel rules will remain applicable at least until after the Carnival holidays in mid-February.
• The vaccination programme is accelerating. The task force in charge of vaccination will be asked to speed up the vaccination rate and make the process more efficient.
• There will be more tests. Health ministers and the Testing task force are tasked with increasing the number of PCR tests and antigen tests as part of the current testing capacity.
• Vigilance in schools. The authorities believe there will be a need to be more attentive to health and quarantine measures among children of school age, in particular children who are attending school in neighbouring countries who are experiencing a less favourable epidemiological situation currently.

More information (in French) here.

Today (Tuesday 5 January) marks the official start of Belgium's coronavirus vaccination campaign. A pilot campaign was carried out between Christmas and the New Year to test logistics, in which 700 people were successfully vaccinated.

In the first phase of the campaign, vaccinations will be given to around 200 000 residents and staff in care homes. The vaccine to be used will be the Belgium-manufactured Pfizer/BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine authorised for use across the EU just before Christmas (link to EU authorisation site). Some 87 000 doses are due to be delivered per week and each recipient of the vaccine will get two doses, 21 days apart, as specified by the manufacturer and the regulatory authorities. The first phase will continue into mid-February.

Belgium plans to issue a certificate to everyone who is vaccinated against coronavirus that can be downloaded from the official website MaSante.belgique.be. 

Testing update

The Red Cross has opened a coronavirus testing centre at Brussels-Midi station, for rail passengers returning from a red zone. It is capable of carrying out 750 tests per day.

Brussels' seven other coronavirus test centres are now keeping the same opening hours at weekends as during the week, to handle increased demand from returning travellers. The centres can be found on Boulevard Pachéco (centre), Albert (Forest), Mérode (Etterbeek), Heysel (Laeken), Molenbeek, Schaerbeek and Anderlecht, with a total weekly testing capacity of 70 000. To book a test go to: https://brussels.testcovid.be/.

The Belgian government will be financing increased genomic analysis of Covid-19 samples to better understand the prevalence of the various strains of the virus in the country. From mid-January a couple of dozen Belgian laboratories will work on sequencing the Sars-Cov-2 genome working on analysis of some 1 000 positive samples - a quadrupling of the number analysed to approximately 2% of all samples.

An analysis of samples from blood donors by the Red Cross and Sciensano suggests that 14.4% of the Belgian population currently possess antibodies against coronavirus.

Our eighth Christmas 2020 walks contribution comes from Lynne and Jake from the English Youth Theatre in Brussels. 

If you want to make a contribution to this series just send us a short video of a favourite festive walk, a few photos of a memorable meander or your musings on what 2021 holds for Brits in Belgium. All contributions gratefully received via the BBCA.NewsAndEvents@gmail.com email address.

All the best for 2021 from all at BBCA and lets hope we all have a "Happy New Year"!

Our seventh 2020 Christmas walk video - and first of 2021 - comes from BBCA committee secretary and Chair of the Royal Brussels Cricket Club (RBCC) Nick Compton.

If you want to make a contribution to this series just send us a short video of a favourite festive walk, a few photos of a memorable meander or your musings on what 2021 holds for Brits in Belgium. All contributions gratefully received via the BBCA.NewsAndEvents@gmail.com email address.

All the best for 2021 from all at BBCA and lets hope we all have a "Happy New Year"!

Our sixth 2020 Christmas walk video comes from BBCA committee member and proud native of Kernow Simon Pascoe.

It is not too late to join the fun and send us your video of your favourite festive walk, a few photos of a memorable meander or your musings on what 2021 holds for Brits in Belgium. All contributions gratefully received via the BBCA.NewsAndEvents@gmail.com email address.

All the best for 2021 from all at BBCA - Happy New Year!

From Thursday 31 December, new requirements come into force for anyone entering Belgium from a red zone. Belgium currently defines the majority of the rest of the world as a COVID red zone with the exception of Iceland, Japan, Corsica and some parts of Ireland, Norway and Greece.

All travellers, regardless of citizenship or place of residence, must quarantine and take two coronavirus tests, seven days apart. The first test should be taken on the day of arrival, with the second seven days after. Only if the result of the second test is negative can their quarantine end.

The decision followed an emergency meeting of the coronavirus consultative committee on Wednesday 30 December as Belgium anticipates an influx of travellers returning to the country from abroad over the next few days, despite the formal government advice not to travel over the festive season.

"We want to be clear," said Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo. "This clarity translates into a firm and formal obligation to self-isolate after your holiday and to take a COVID test twice."

It is hoped that the tougher rules would also "be dissuasive" for anyone considering a foreign holiday during the Carnival half-term break.

2021 is almost upon us but our 5th 2020 Christmas walk video comes from Zoe White who is Chair of the Brussels Branch of the Royal British Legion and has recently joined the BBCA committee.

If you fancy shooting a video of your favourite festive walk or sending in a few photos of a memorable meander, do not hesitate to convey your contribution to us via the BBCA.NewsAndEvents@gmail.com email address.

Best wishes from all at BBCA for a very Happy New Year.

As you will be well aware, on 1 January 2021 British citizens in Belgium will wake up to a dramatically different relationship between the UK and the EU and this will have an impact on all our lives.

In 2017 the ‘Brexit and the Belgian Brits (BABBS)’ Facebook group was set up as a support network for individuals with common Brexit-related problems. Now with some 1500 members, BABBS members share tips on how to obtain EU citizenship and other administrative issues, as well as Brexit-related news.

In late November 2020, documentary filmmaker Anny Tubbs approached BABBS organisers with an idea to highlight how Brexit is affecting the ordinary lives of British people living in Belgium. She proposed to work with interested BABBS members on planning and crowdfunding the production of a short film to bring BABBS members closer together, give them a voice and use screenings to raise awareness of ongoing issues.

The reasons why we Brits came to be in Belgium are many: some came for work, others for love. But each one of us has benefited from the freedom, spontaneity and flexibility that EU membership gave us. By highlighting these stories, the film will document a historic moment and explore what the future holds.

BABBS is inviting Brits in Belgium to be a part of this community project by contributing to the fundraising for the film fundraiser. A dedicated fundraising webpage has been set up where you can choose to be an anonymous or recognised donor – see your name up in lights, or even spend half a day on set to experience movie-making ‘for reel’. The target for fundraising is EUR 10 000 and if the target is not reached then donations will be reimbursed.

New Year’s Eve Brexit wake

BABBS also invites you to a sombre occasion to mark the last day of the UK's transition out of the European Union. It will be a sad day and due to the COVID curfew the plan is for a short event from 7pm to 8pm on 31 December 2020 outside the British Embassy at Avenue d'Auderghem 10, 1040 Brussels (nearest Metro Schuman).

Suggested dress: Mourning Black with EU Facemasks or similar and please bring a candle to light (or similar illumination).

BABBS tell us that Ixelles police have limited the maximum number of people allowed for this event to 100 and COVID rules also restrict gatherings to no more than 4 adults in one group, so attendees will need to stand in groups of a maximum of 4 people (socially distanced of course).

If you are thinking of attending the vigil, please fill in this Google doc so BABBS can liaise with the local police. You do not need to include your email address and/or GSM if you do not want to. You can also use the form to arrange to join a 4-person group before the event.

The event will be filmed, so if you do not wish to appear in the film, please let the organisers know when you get there.