Belgium is no longer considering the United Kingdom as a "very high risk" country for all travellers coming and returning from the country, according to the latest update of the list.
The UK was placed on the list of countries that Belgium considers "very high risk" because of the increasingly strong circulation of coronavirus variants of concern (such as the Delta variant) on 26 June, but was already taken off it last Thursday, according to Wendy Lee, spokesperson for the Federal Public Health Service.
"Every Thursday, an updated version of this list is proposed by the Risk Assessment Group (RAG), validated by the Risk Management Group (RMG) and then by the Interministerial Health Committee," she told The Brussels Times.
As long as the UK was still on the list, all people (including tourists and residents) who had been in the UK at any time during the past 14 days were banned from travelling to Belgian territory, either directly or indirectly.
This is now no longer the case, but the measures still apply to all people who have been in the UK during the last 14 days, according to Lee.
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The fact the UK has been taken back off the "very high risk" list, means it is now considered as a "regular" red zone outside of the EU, according to Marie Chercharie, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs.
"For travellers, it means that all the rules for red non-EU zones apply," she confirmed to The Brussels Times.
On Tuesday 13 July, a total of 36,660 Covid-19 cases were confirmed across the UK, up from 34,471 cases the day before, according to government data.
What this means:
People who have a vaccination or a recovery certificate are required to:
- get tested on day 1 or 2 after their arrival in Belgium. They can leave quarantine if their test result is negative.
- children younger than 12 years old do not have to get tested.
People who do not have a vaccination or recovery certificate are required to:
- quarantine for ten days upon arrival in Belgium,
- get tested for Covid-19 on day 1 and 7.
