WorldsAway

I am worried. Ever since we booked our flights to Brussels, departing December 25th, the COVID cases in Belgium have surged to almost record levels. We are fully vaxed but we will not be allowed to return home if we test positive for COVID (a negative COVID test taken up to 72 hours before our flight is required before being allowed to board).

Do you think this spike will last just a few weeks or will it get worse and last well into December and January.

Thanks

hetismij2

There is no way of knowing what is going to happen. Belgium has tightened the rules again, like so many other European countries, in an effort to bring numbers down.
We shall have to wait to see if they are effective.
Pack facemasks, FFP2 preferably.

lavandula

This surge is happening in other countries too. They are going to lockdown for unvaccinated people in Austria and Germany, and some Christmas markets in Germany have been cancelled. I hear the Netherlands is also badly affected.

No-one has a crystal ball with these things. I am particularly risk-averse as my country closed down all together for 2 years to stop the spread (I am Australian) and if it were me, I would not go yet myself, I would rebook for some months away. I would think that winter, being like flu season, would be a heightened risk for Covid. It would be no fun sightseeing if people were in lockdown. You might find someone else has the advice that it is perfectly OK to go and not to worry, but everyone has different risk tolerances. We here have been told we need to learn to live with Covid in the community. I would be interested to hear other Fodorites' perspectives on this, but you might just save your deposits by rebooking now.

Lavandula

hetismij2

I am fully vaccinated, living in the Netherlands and I have no plans of visiting the other end of the country never mind another country or continent at the moment.
It is your holiday and your money and your health. Belgium, like the Netherlands is currently on a negative travel advice from the CDC. Bear that in mind too.

Tulips

It's a risk. Even fully vaccinated, you can test positive and will be stuck in quarantaine. Rules have been tightened but not much. Everything is open, but masks are mandatory indoors. IC's are filling up, the vast majority of these are unvaccinated even though the vaccination rate is high in most areas. But if you have a medical emergency, there may not be a bed available. Infections are high everywhere, but if you look at nr of people in hospital, Belgium has almost the highest number in Europe (www.ourworldindata.org).
I would avoid Brussel at the moment.

WorldsAway

Our worries are well founded, it seems.

Is Paris and Reims currently suffering the same Covid fate as Brussels? We would consider renting a car after we land in Brussels and then travelling to Reims for two nights then Paris for 4 nights before returning to Brussels for one night for our flight home.

Thanks

lavandula

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...-19/index.html

This was updated a day ago; likely coming from Brussels you would have to provide the French authorities with a negative Covid test (see the list of countries and conditions in the article).

If you search 'coronavirus Paris' or coronavirus Reims' you will get updated graphs of the number of cases, but the graphs refer to France in both cases. It doesn't seem to be as extreme a situation as in Belgium by the graphs, although by December things could well be different.

Good luck, it's a very tricky situation!

Lavandula

Tulips

France does not require a test at the moment, only a form declaring that you have no symptoms and of course the pass sanitaire.
Look at ourworldindata for the most comprehensive information. You can add countries to compare and there are several metrics you can look up. This is the number of cases per million inhabitants. France seems to be doing OK at the moment.

PDersch

This is a great source, thanks for sharing. Our trip is not until late April, and much can change between now and then, for the better or for the worse. We will be watching the situation closely.

cdnyul

Again, I missed all the fun.
Starting at the 08;00 second mark you can see the Courtyard Marriott on Joseph II Ave.
We stayed there 11 days ago.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59363256

Talked to our daughter today, all quiet in her area (St. Gilles) and , hopefully, her job at the Apple Store (really big windows) will not get too exiting.
Apple has to limit the number of customers to max of 150 during the busiest shopping season.

https://www.cultofmac.com/389344/bru...tore-redesign/

The Belgian gov't has introduced new rules for restaurants, museums and theaters; a Covid pass with Covid rapid test for the vaccinated, PCR test for the not vaccinated.
The price of the tests has increased to about Euro 80
.The government has set up a snitch line to report any establishment not following the rules.

GKS

Does anyone know if it's possible for US citizens to get the covid pass there? Our trip is in April and we all have digital vaccine cards, as well as the hard copies, but I'm not sure if our digital copies would be accepted there.

cdnyul

We got it based on our Quebec vaccinations. Took about 24 hrs to receive a code via email which you enter into the CovidSafe app which then generates the QR code.
https://covidsafe.be/en
https://coronavirus.brussels/en/belg...or-foreigners/

GKS

Thank you!!