When can we take off the mandatory masks on the train, in shops or government buildings? An opinion survey commissioned by the NOS showed last week that The Dutch prefer to see the mouth cap disappear, of all corona measures that apply now. Under current rules, that will only happen in September.
Several members of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT), which advises the cabinet on corona, also see according to the AD the obligation to face masks cannot last much longer, now that the number of infections is decreasing and the number of vaccinated people is increasing. We will know more about it next Friday at the earliest, when the outgoing cabinet makes decisions about possible relaxation.
‘Now is the time’
OMT member Andreas Voss, also professor of infection prevention in Nijmegen, says in conversation with the NOS: now is the time to think about letting go of the mouth caps. “We have gone from a lockdown to the ‘very serious’ and ‘serious’ phases and are now at ‘worrying’, the second least serious situation. I think with temperatures like this you should at least have a discussion about wearing face masks anyway. to omit.”
The most important thing is that people can keep one and a half meters away from each other, says Voss, and stick to the other basic measures. “I wouldn’t do it on public transport. Keeping distance is difficult there.”
Hard evidence is missing
The big problem with face masks, actually since the outbreak of the pandemic, is that hard evidence about their effectiveness against the virus is lacking. Voss: “You can’t really do good research on it. You can’t let half of society wear a mask and half without it. We have to rely on data from hospitals, and we know very little about the rest. of society.”
Heiman Wertheim, professor of clinical microbiology at Radboudumc, agrees: “The evidence goes in all directions. It is also difficult to conduct a good, controlled study on this subject. It certainly helps in healthcare, for people who work with corona patients. Beyond that, it is unclear to what extent face masks work: it will certainly help a little, but is it still proportional?”
–
