Belgium to shut cinemas, theatres as Omicron cases surge

FILE PHOTO: A medical personnel works at the intensive care unit for patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at ZNA Stuivenberg hospital in Antwerp, Belgium, November 19, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium will close cinemas and theatres and play sporting fixtures behind closed doors immediately after Christmas in a tightening of coronavirus restrictions to curb a surge in cases of the Omicron variant.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Wednesday that restrictions in the past three weeks had helped reduce COVID-19 infections, principally of the Delta variant, since a late November peak.