Belgium scraps almost all COVID-19 measures as crisis eases

BRUSSELS - Belgium began easing most COVID-19 restrictions Monday in the biggest move to relax measures since the onset of the crisis some two years ago.

Gone are the coronavirus passport that allows entry into bars, restaurants, theater and cinemas as well as capacity limits.

Face masks, long the symbol of the pandemic, will no longer be mandatory except on public transport and in the health care sector.

The government announced last week that the nation of 11 million will go from code orange - the second-toughest for virus measures - to code yellow as of Monday.

Infections in the week ending March 5 fell by 24% compared to the previous week and stood at 5,854 cases. New hospitalizations and intensive care cases continued to decline rapidly.

Other European countries are also relaxing their pandemic measures, as more and more governments design protocols to coexist with the coronavirus.

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