People traveling from Belgium to England will have to self-isolate for two weeks starting Saturday, the British government said.
In a statement, the U.K. Department for Transport said Belgium, Andorra and The Bahamas had been taken off its list of “Travel Corridors” because of “a significant change in both the level and pace of confirmed cases of coronavirus.”
“There has been a consistent increase in COVID-19 cases per 100,000 of the population in Belgium since the middle of July, with a fourfold increase in total cases over this time period,” the statement said.
Wales has also removed Andorra, Belgium and The Bahamas from their equivalent list and travelers will need to quarantine from Friday.
To date, Belgium — with a population of around 11.5 million — has recorded more than 9,800 deaths attributed to COVID-19, mostly during the peak in March and April. Reported coronavirus infections averaged around 100 cases a day in June, but they jumped in mid-July, sometimes to over 500-600 a day.
On July 27, the Belgian government ordered tighter restrictions on social gatherings and more expansive rules on mask-wearing. Antwerp went even further and imposed a nighttime curfew.
Brunei and Malaysia have been added to the Travel Corridors list for England and Wales.