Do you feel like you are living Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day adventure? I do. The coronavirus lockdowns in Belgium actually started on my birthday two years ago. Now, we are just two months away from our three-year mark. Each month, I think this COVID-19 insanity will go away or at least diminish. Yet, with the recent arrival of the Omicron variant, Belgium is firmly in its fifth wave. It’s not over yet!
Wearing masks, seeing only a few friends, restricting my travels. and regularly checking the latest rules and regulations on the Belgium government website. I am tired of it all!
Safe Ticket Scheme Extended
We were looking forward to the easing of the COVID Safe ticket scheme on Saturday, January 15. We can say “buh-bye” to that idea. That was before the fifth wave of this plague. The Belgian government extended the program to April 15, 2022, because of the dangers of the highly contagious Omicron variant. You must show you have been vaccinated or had a negative test to gain access to restaurants, bars and events. Basically, you need a COVID Safe ticket to live a normal, or somewhat normal, life.
Passes are not just needed in Belgium. In France, they are even stricter. I was nearly denied entrance to a romantic cruise on the Seine when visiting Paris because the scanner couldn’t read the code on my printed pass. Luckily, I had a digital version as a backup.
Fifth Wave
The fifth wave of COVID racing across Europe is restricting travel and giving me doubts about crossing the border into neighboring France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Just take a look at the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control’s situation dashboard and map. All you see is red! Who wants to travel? Even though I am double vaccinated and have my booster shot, I’m waiting another month or two when health officials think things may be better. I’ll just feel more confident. Many of my friends HAVE been traveling throughout Europe, though. They have had no problems. I’m just being overly cautious — for now.
The Rules
Maybe I am being so cautious because of the new restrictions. There are lots of rules, which vary according to where you live: Brussels, Flanders or Wallonia. And some individual towns have imposed even stricter regulations.
For those of us in Flanders, the list of rules is long. Here are some highlights:
- Teleworking is required, whenever possible.
- We can only go shopping with one other person, which is an improvement from earlier waves when we could only shop alone.
- Stores are restricted in how many clients may be in the shop at the same time, and minimum distances must be maintained, even when in the check-out line.
- In restaurants, only 6 people are allowed per table. This doesn’t count children under 12 and family members from the same household.
What’s Closed?
- Discos and dance halls
- Subtropical swimming pools and recreational areas of pools
- Indoor areas of amusement parks, gardens and zoos
- Indoor playgrounds, escape rooms and trampoline parks
- Bowling alleys, billiards halls
- Paintball and laser games
- Casinos, gambling halls and betting offices
Dining Out
To enter a cafe or restaurant, you need to have your COVID safe pass and government ID card scanned. Of course, a mask is required, unless you are eating or drinking. Opening hours are limited from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Only six people are allowed per table, not counting children under 12 and family members from the same household. All pub sports and games of chance are forbidden.
Masks
Is everyone as sick of wearing masks as I am? It’s a necessary evil, though, if we are to protect our community. In the earlier waves, they were bothersome, but I had some lovely ones — gifts from friends and purchases. Now, masks have gone from a fun fashion statement to a dreaded necessity. It is now compulsory for anyone from the age of 6 to wear one.
It looks like we’ll be masking up for a long time, so I’ve just bought a big box of N95, or filtering face piece (FFP2), masks. Health officials recommend the higher grade masks as they offer better filtering. In fact, the N95 masks are said to filter at least 94% of all aerosols, including airborne viruses such as COVID. Of course, they are more expensive and you can’t wash them like you can the cloth masks.
Some places are actually mandating higher filtering masks stating that the cloth ones do not offer enough protection. If you are traveling to Austria, France, Germany or Italy, be sure to come with N95 masks. In Germany, Bavaria issued an order that N85 respirators must be worn on transport and in stores, and I anticipate that regulation spreading across the EU.
Closing Thought
I’m ending on a humorous note with a post I saw from Natural Life: “Masks are the new bra. They’re uncomfortable. You only wear them in public, and when you don’t wear one, everyone notices.”
loved the mask -bra analogy
chele of WV