BRUSSELS, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- As Covid-19 cases surge in Belgium, health certificates will now be mandatory for events of 200 people indoors and 400 outdoors, announced Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Tuesday in a press conference. The new rule will apply across the country, and masks will be made compulsory in indoor public spaces and shops, said the prime minister. The new rules on the use of the covid safe ticket (CST) were decided by Belgiums Consultative Committee on Tuesday. Nobody can ignore the figures. In our country and other countries, you see an autumn wave after a plateau, he said. The government has also urged people to work from home where possible in order to avoid contact. According to data published on Tuesday by Sciensano, the Belgian institute for public health, the country saw a spike of 75 percent in infections and 56 percent in hospitalizations last week. The prime minister said there would be a third dose of vaccination for people aged over 65. Vaccines remain our most important weapon against this virus, he said. They give us 90 percent protection from serious illness and 70 percent from infection. To date, 8.5 million Belgians have received both doses of a vaccine. This represents vaccination coverage of 74.1 percent, according to Sciensano. Since the start of the pandemic, Belgium has registered 1,328,202 cases of infection and 25,889 deaths.
