Covid-19: Court overturns Belgium’s lockdown of theaters, concert halls and cinemas

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo announced the shutdown of cultural venues to prevent the spread of the omicron variant on Dec. 22 and allowed for restaurants and bars to remain open with an 11 p.m. curfew.

The ruling came after a union representing actors, performers, and cinema operators appealed to the government to reverse its decision.

After accusing the government of “contempt, discrimination, and abuse,” thousands of entertainment workers and their supporters marched in Brussels on Sunday, but to no avail, as Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told state broadcaster RTBF earlier on Tuesday that “there’s no possibility to revise the decision immediately.”

The State Council ruled on Tuesday that it didn’t see how “cultural venues such as theaters as were places that were particularly dangerous for the health and lives of people and favored the spread of the coronavirus, to the point that they had to be closed,” according to the news channel BFMTV.

In France, where a new record was set with over 100,000 Covid cases reported within 24 hours on Dec. 25., the government said on Monday that consuming food and drink in cinemas will be banned starting on Jan. 3 for three weeks.

As part of new measures announced by Prime Minister Jean Castex on Monday, public gatherings will also be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 outdoors. At the same time, service in bars and cafés will be restricted to seated patrons.

Denmark and the Netherlands are now the only European countries to have shut down cinemas, with other countries such as Iceland and Norway, which have limited the audience capacity in venues.

The Netherlands, meanwhile, has been on lockdown since Dec. 19 and will remain under those restrictions until at least mid-January.

BELGIAN COURTS DO THEIR JOBS

Tuesday’s verdict is not the first time Belgium’s courts have scuppered the government’s pandemic-related restrictions. Earlier this month, a court in Wallonia ruled that vaccine pass requirements to enter cafes, restaurants, gyms and other venues were illegal in the region. While the pass is an initiative of the national government, individual regions are responsible for enforcing its use.

However, authorities in Wallonia appealed the decision and said they would not stop mandating vaccine passes.

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