News item | 05-04-2020 | 18:33
Minister Ferd Grapperhaus of Justice and Security and Chairman of the Security Council Hubert Bruls look back on a relatively quiet weekend. The first picture from the security regions in the Netherlands is that most people have followed the call to stay at home this weekend and only went outside for a breath of fresh air or if it was really necessary. People often did not gather in large groups and kept to the 1.5 m distance.
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Sunday busier than Saturday
Across the Netherlands, it was noticeable that it was busier on Sunday than Saturday. On Sunday, mayors had to intervene in some cases – preventively or otherwise. In some places, for example, skating rinks have been closed, and access roads to, for example, the border triangle, beaches and other recreational areas have been closed. It also remained quiet in the border areas. In the central and northern Netherlands there were mainly returning Dutch people, only in Limburg a few people came from Germany to Dutch residential boulevards and garden centers. That has not led to any noticeable crowds.
Some incidents
Across the Netherlands, there were some incidents where the police had to act. For example, the police intervened in Borne, Arnhem and Breda and parties were broken up. In addition, enforcement was not only enforced, but in some cases fines were also issued and people were arrested.
Grapperhaus: “We look back on a weekend with beautiful weather, where people have clearly made the difficult choice to stay at home as much as possible. The people who did go outside followed the rules and kept a good distance from each other. I say to those people: compliments, we understand how difficult it is, but keep this up, also towards the Easter weekend! Only by making these difficult choices together can we fight corona. I can be brief about the house parties that have been broken up by the police; unacceptable. Rightly so that mayors and police acted hard. ”
Bruls: “On Monday evening, the Security Council spoke with Prime Minister Rutte and Minister Grapperhaus about the current measures. We agree that the measures had an effect last week, and this is evident again this weekend. We see fewer people and groups on the street and the population seems to support the measures. A few need a “reminder”, but that is why the security regions also enforce the measures taken. Hopefully, the support and cooperation of the population will remain this way until the end of April. Because we all realize very well: we demand a lot from our society, from our people. But we can only handle this together. This virus has to be stopped and the fewer people get sick, the fewer people die and we can stop the virus altogether. “
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