Belgium eases mask rules, cuts quarantine despite rising cases

People wearing protective masks walk past the European Parliament headquarters amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brussels, Belgium September 23, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium is ending a requirement to wear masks outdoors and reducing the time people have to self-isolate, in a slight easing of coronavirus restrictions announced on Wednesday despite sharply rising numbers of COVID-19 infections.

Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes told a news conference that, from Oct. 1, people who have had contact with an infected person would only have to quarantine for seven days. Masks would no longer be mandatory everywhere outside, as currently the case in the capital Brussels and some other cities, she said.