Belgian police use water cannon and tear gas on Covid protesters

Demonstrators light fireworks during a protest against coronavirus measures in Brussels (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

Belgian police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters in Brussels on Sunday after most demonstrators marched peacefully to protest against tightened Covid-19 restrictions designed to counter a surge in coronavirus infections.

Thousands of people gathered to reject the new measures announced on Friday, the third week in a row that the government has tightened its rules as an avalanche of new cases strains the country’s health services, depriving people with other life-threatening diseases of treatment.