Belgium cinemas, markets to close from 26 Dec

At the Christmas market in Brussels, where more than 225 wood cabins have been installed, traders said the closure would cost them money they could ill afford.

The Christmas market had been scheduled to run until 2 January. For theatres and cinemas, which have been already shut down several times since the start of the pandemic, this new decision is hard to swallow.

Belgium has reported a 36% fall in new COVID-19 cases compared with the previous week, but officials remain concerned at the threat posed by the omicron variant of the virus.