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A woman wearing a face mask is seen on a subway train in Brussels, Belgium, May 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)
After almost two-month shutdown, shops in the country experienced their first Saturday reopening. Feedbacks from shopkeepers and major retailers indicated that the day was relatively calm, far from the heavy traffic that authorities had feared.
BRUSSELS, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Belgium recorded 291 new cases of COVID-19 infection in the past 24 hours, confirming a decreasing trend in the spread of the virus over the past seven days, according to a statement issued by the public health institute Sciensano on Sunday.
To date, the country has recorded 55,280 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the epidemic.
The last 24 hours saw 60 new hospitalizations, a decrease of 5 patients compared to a day earlier. Meanwhile, 371 patients are in intensive care whereas 170 people have recovered and left the hospital, raising the total recovery number to 14,630.
In the last 24 hours, 47 deaths have been confirmed, bringing the toll in Belgium to 9,052.
A staff member of a shop welcomes customer at the main shopping street, the Avenue Nouvelle, in Brussels, Belgium, May 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
After almost two-month shutdown, shops in the country experienced their first Saturday reopening. Feedbacks from shopkeepers and major retailers indicated that the day was relatively calm, far from the heavy traffic that authorities had feared.
"We found that customers prepared well for their visit by consulting our website," explained Julie Stordiau, spokesperson for IKEA, quoted by newspaper L'Echo. "They now take their precautions and directly target the articles they need."
Staff members of a shop serve the customers at a shop on the main shopping street, the Avenue Nouvelle, in Brussels, Belgium, May 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
To fight COVID-19 effectively, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Budget and Civil Service David Clarinval was given the green light on Saturday by the Belgian government to launch an open public market to equip federal administrations with sanitary products.
