Coronavirus digest: Belgium to scrap face mask rules

Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes has said that wearing face masks will no longer be compulsory from October 1.

"Wearing a mask is very important in the management of the epidemic. However, there is no point in imposing it everywhere all the time," Wilmes told journalists in Brussels. Several Belgian cities, including the capital Brussels, had made the coverings obligatory, except when practicing sport.

Masks will still have to be worn in crowded public spaces where social distancing cannot be adhered to.

She said Belgians will need to learn to live with the virus but warned against a "widespread slackening" of basic social-distancing rules. "We are a risk management phase," Wilmes said, adding that people who have had contact with an infected person would only have to quarantine for seven days.

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