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

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.

Work has started on Brussel's new north-south metro line 3 that will link Forest and Evere via the city centre.

The plan is for tram lines 3 and 4, which run underground between Albert (Forest) and North Station to be turned into a full metro line by 2024. Beyond North Station, a new metro tunnel will be dug passing Schaerbeek town hall with the line terminating at Bordet station in Evere. The full line aims to be ready by 2030.

Find out more on the dedicated STIB-MIVB Metro3 website.

The Bulletin has established a web article on the Corona virus outbreak in Belgium that will be updated with the latest information as it is confirmed.

As of Tuesday 10 March, Belgium has recorded 314 confirmed cases of coronavirus (190 in Flanders, 82 in Wallonia and 42 in Brussels).

You can find The Bulletin article here. 

BREXIT NEWS: The UK Government has today (6 March 2020) allocated £3 million to support UK nationals in the EU. The money will be used by selected charities and organisations to provide practical support for UK nationals living in the EU.

Each organisation will receive government funding to support UK citizens who may find it harder to complete all the paperwork required for residency applications. This includes pensioners, disabled people, those living in remote areas or who have mobility difficulties, and those who require help with language translation or interpretation.

The selected charities include the armed forces charity, SSAFA, the London-based specialist legal charity the AIRE (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe) Centre, and the International Organisation for Migration. No specific organisation based in Belgium has been announced.

You can read the full UK Government announcement here.

The Belgian Federal Public Service (FPS) Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment has established a website on the #COVID19 virus that is available in English as well as Flemish, French and German.

The site contains useful information on the virus, symptoms and the latest news on testing etc. 

If you missed our latest #Brexit briefing with The British Embassy in Brussels on 25 February 2020 there is an extensive write up in The Bulletin by Sarah Crew including a summary of the plenary Q&A session and links to useful information on the web.

Find the article here.

With the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Belgium rising to eight today (2 March 2020 updated) the mayor of Woluwe-Saint-Lambert has unilaterally banned anyone who has recently traveled to China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, South Korea, Iran or northern Italy from accessing local schools and other municipal buildings such as care homes, libraries and the town hall.

The measure has been condemned as "totally disproportionate" by Belgium's federal health minister Maggie De Block and the move has prompted Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort to call a meeting of the region's 19 municipal mayors to discuss a more coordinated approach in the capital.

More on The Bulletin website.

As of Sunday 1 March 2020 a few things have changed in Belgium: non-prior post will now only be delivered by Bpost two times a week; dentists’ index-linked fees rise by 1.95%; the price of a MuseumPass increases from €50 to €59 (still excellent value for money in my personal opinion); and new rules on radiation protection come into force.

Meanwhile in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg all public transport is now completely free with the exception of first class travel on trains and certain night buses.

Get the details on The Bulletin website. 

The snow may have been transitory in Brussels but up to 25cm of snow has fallen in the southeast of Belgium. A total of nine Belgian downhill ski-centres around Liege province are open and may remain so into the weekend depending on how rapid the thaw is.

Six cross-country ski centres in East Belgium have been open since Wednesday including Baraque Michel situated in one of the highest locations in the country.

More on The Bulletin website.

From Monday 2 March a new bus - No 56 - will connect the EU district with Schaerbeek and Neder-Over-Heembeek providing a link between the north of the city and Schuman metro and train stations.

The new route is part of a bigger overhaul of the STIB/MIVB bus network that will continue with two new lines from Erasme to Uccle Stalle and from Central Station to Forest National in the Autumn.

More on The Bulletin website.