20 July 2021: Staycation – A corona proof outing…

Spain, Portugal, Malta, the Netherlands and Luxemburg are colored red on the ECDC map. Additionally, almost all of Greece and Denmark, the Mediterranean coasts of Croatia and France, and the French capital of Paris have turned orange.  Also, Belgium is colored orange again. Orange meaning that the risk of infection is now considered “moderate”.  Against the backdrop of the rising infection figures the Belgian government announced yesterday stricter rules for travelers returning home. First, all travellers wanting to enter Belgium after at least 48 hours abroad are required to complete the Passenger Locator Form, regardless of the colour code of the zone they return from. Second, those returning from a red zone without being fully vaccinated or having a recovery certificate have to get PCR tested on day 1 and day 7 after they come home. If the test is positive, a quarantine of 10 days is mandatory. The colour codes no longer matter for people who are fully vaccinated or recently recovered from a Covid-19 infection, as they do not have to get tested or quarantine upon return to Belgium. Meanwhile, the number of infections continue to rise in Belgium. Between 10 and 16 July an average of 1,330 new coronavirus infections were detected per day, a 41% increase from the average of the previous week. During the same period an average of 21 patients were hospitalized per day. We’re limiting ourselves to a corona proof one day outings just across the border in Zeeland – Walcheren, Zeeland, the NetherlandsParagraph.