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Belgium is to reduce the quarantine period for people with Coronavirus symptoms from 14 days to seven.

It’s one of a number of new measures for the country announced by the Belgian prime minister, Sophie Wilmès, on Wednesday afternoon.

The new quarantine rule will apply from October.

The prime minister said: "An isolation period of 14 days is often difficult to keep up. As a result we asked experts to look again at this."

A spokesperson for Belgium’s Crisis Committee told the BBC that the new rules are based on latest scientific advice on the adequate length of time needed for self-isolation.

People with coronavirus symptoms can take a test on the fifth day of quarantine and, if it is negative, they can end their isolation when the week is up. If it’s positive, they must complete a two-week isolation period then take another test.

The prime minister also announced that it will no longer be compulsory to wear a face mask outside from October, with the exception of heavily crowded areas.

Sophie Wilmès stated that rules on social contact will continue to be monitored. At the moment groups of up to 10 people can meet together at the same time, providing social-distancing rules are applied. The so called "bubble" rule will also continue. It means that people can chose five others to be in close contact with.

Sophie Wilmès defined close contact as “being physically close for more than 15 minutes, without socially distancing or wearing a mask.” Each person can choose to be in that bubble with five others for a month, before changing members of the group, if required.

Meanwhile, figures show that there has been an average of 1,374 coronavirus cases a day in Belgium for the past week. That’s a 60% increase on cases recorded compared to the week before.