Anyone who skips the mandatory test on return from a foreign corona hotspot will be punished, De Tijd reports.
The announcement follows the observation that only half of the returning Belgians from hotbeds actually gets tested.
Anyone returning from a red zone must undergo a coronavirus test and be quarantined for at least nine days. For a zone with code orange, isolation is strongly recommended. For many, that's a bridge too far.
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There is now an agreement with the regions to introduce the same principle for tourists as before for high-risk contacts. These are people who have been in close contact with identified coronavirus patients for a long period of time. An amendment to the law requires high-risk contacts to be tested for corona and quarantined.
As a result, sanctions also apply for those who do not abide by the rules, fines of between €208 and €4,000, and even prison sentences of between eight days and six months.
Belgians who return from corona outbreaks and fail to comply with the guidelines will henceforth fall under that regime, says De Backer.
High-risk contacts are called if they have not been tested after one or two days. De Backer said it is important that the contact tracing, a competence of the regions, also takes this task to heart for returning tourists.
The Brussels Times
