Brussels Closes Cafes And Bars For A Month As The Country Takes A Step Towards Return To Full Coronavirus Lockdown

The Belgian capital took a step towards restoring its coronavirus lockdown today when Brussels ordered cafes and bars to close for a month from Thursday.

Restaurants serving meals at tables will remain open, but bars and drinking alcohol in public will be banned until November 8, the regional government said, at which point the situation will be re-assessed. 

The news follows Paris taking similar measures by closing all its bars from Tuesday, and Spain ordering Madrid into another lockdown on Friday – becoming the first European capital to re-enter lockdown. 

Bars in Brussels will be forced to close again after local authorities imposed new coronavirus measures on the city. Pictured: Customers drinks beers at a bar in Brussels in June after the city relaxed its lockdown measures 

Minister-President of Brussels region Rudi Vervoort gives a press conference after a meeting to discuss tighter measures to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, at Brussels City Hall

Rudi Vervoort, premier of the Brussels region, told a news conference that bars and cafes would shut for a month from Thursday, even if they only sold tea or coffee. 

‘Serving alcohol is not the criteria here,’ he said. Authorities will decide at another meeting on Friday whether and how to keep schools and universities open.

This is the second time Brussels has imposed such a measure since the coronavirus outbreak, after a previous lockdown helped bring cases down.