If people continue to ignore the rules and throw lockdown parties, Belgium may still be stuck with strict coronavirus measures by Easter, according to Belgium's Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden.
Reacting to the news of several lockdown parties organised last weekend, Verlinden said that these gatherings are "absolutely not acceptable."
"It is unbelievable that a number of people still do not understand it or do not want to understand it," she said on VTM News on Monday evening. "This absolutely has to stop. Now."
"We are doing everything we can to show people that we mean business," she said. "But if individuals continue to violate the rules, we will still be stuck with these strict measures by Easter."
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Verlinden stressed that there are high fines for people who violate the measures. "Anyone who learns the hard way (meaning they have ignored the measures several times) will receive a higher fine, or can even be summoned directly," she said.
"In doing so, they jeopardise their own safety, but also that of so many others. That must stop," Verlinden said.
"The police will not systematically ring the doorbell and enter a house, but if there is evidence of major offences, they can go in to check," Verlinden stressed again. "The police will do everything in their power to act very decisively."
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
