This Christmas, people in Belgium will be allowed to invite up to four people into their garden to celebrate, however only one of these will be allowed inside the house, and the same rule applies to using the toilet.
1. Maximum of four
Over Christmas, households are is permitted to celebrate with a group, however this must be outdoors in the garden and the group they invite cannot be any bigger than 4 people. Additionally, all distance and hygiene rules must be respected among the group, and there must be direct access to the garden as guests are not allowed if they have to enter via the house.
2. One chosen close contact per household
One person among the group, however, is allowed into the house, as the household’s chosen close contact. For them, respecting the distance and hygiene measures with the household is not necessary.
3. Only one guest can use the toilet
Not being permitted to enter the house means guests must not have a drink or anything to eat from inside, and importantly they cannot use the bathroom. Only the chosen close contact will have access to the toilet. Belgium’s Interior Minister, Annelies Verlinden, explained these rules. Her spokesperson told Het Nieuwsblad, ‘So if you really have to go to the toilet, there will be nothing else to do but return home’.
4. Why these rules?
Virologist and interfederal Covid-19 spokesperson, Steven Van Gucht, stated, ‘In itself, it does not hurt much if someone wearing a face mask walks from the front door through the house to the garden’. However, it is more complicated than this. ‘There is a good chance you will stop inside to have a chat. And as soon as you step inside, you run a much greater risk of getting infected, because the air circulation is not the same as outside’, he explained.
Verlinden told Het Laatste Nieuws that she understood that there are a lot of questions being asked about the holidays, but insisted that nothing has changed and that she has not said anything new. ‘The measure of being able to get together with four people outdoors, and everything that entails, has been in place for some time now’ she said.
