Belgium announces to reduce the isolation period for asymptomatic patients with covid-19 from 10 to seven days. The announcement comes after the Belgian authorities on Tuesday set out a series of changes regarding the fight against covid-19.

Federal and regional health officials, meeting in an inter-ministerial conference, also agreed that those vaccinated with two doses within a maximum of five months who have had in high-risk contact will no longer be required to comply with quarantine.

According to the Belgian authorities, they will also be excluded from the PCR test in case of high-risk contact, although they will be recommended to respect "preventive measures" including wearing a mask, distancing themselves, and avoiding being with vulnerable people until 10 days after contact.

"Thus, the 10-day quarantine will remain in place for people who received the second dose of the vaccine more than five months ago and have not yet received a booster, as well as for those who have not been vaccinated," the Belgian authorities quoted by Lusa.

The new measures will go into effect on January 10.

However, the Belgian government justifies that one of the reasons for reducing the quarantine period is the difficulty some companies have in operating with an increasing number of people unable to go to the workplace.

However, next Thursday, the country's concertation committee will meet to analyze the health situation and, in particular, the evolution of the Omicron variant and its impact on hospitals.