Kissing, cuddling, or even clinging to a complete stranger on the street: it is possible again from 9 June, according to a draft ministerial decree by Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V). That write Het Nieuwsblad, Gazet van Antwerpen, De Standaard and Het Belang van Limburg on Saturday. However, this relaxation was never explicitly announced. The experts are shocked. “We never advised this,” says infectious disease specialist Vlieghe. The rule of four continues to apply in cafes and restaurants. According to Verlinden, the change should make the rules “consistent and unambiguous”, and the responsibility at home will be returned to the people.
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According to the newspapers, a draft ministerial decree that Minister Verlinden distributed on Tuesday puts the applicable contact and distance rules on the upside. “The measure limiting the number of long-term close contacts no longer applies,” the minister notes. Or read: the bubble and the hug contacts can go into the trash from the relaxation of June 9. Although it is still “highly recommended to comply with preventive measures such as keeping distance and wearing masks as much as possible.”
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“Giving responsibility back to people”
“In recent months we have had to go very far in imposing rules on what people can do at home. That is very far-reaching and we never knew before corona. At a time when you see that the numbers are going well, thanks to the vaccinations, the switch has been made to give that responsibility for things at home back to the people. We know that we don’t want to go and look at everyone’s home either,” Verlinden told VRT NWS.
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“The regulation on hug contacts will be replaced by the rule of four”, it sounds at the cabinet of Minister Verlinden. After all, you will also be allowed in with four at a cafe or in the cinema. “But we are now no longer going to arrange which friends they may be”, says the cabinet of Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon (N-VA), who had previously mentioned “that the term ‘cuddle contact’ will disappear”.
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Infectiologist Erika Vlieghe discussed the issue on Friday evening at a meeting of the GEMS advisory body, which she chairs. “Politics will have to explain it themselves. In any case, we have not written this in our advice,” says Vlieghe.
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I hope people continue to use their common sense. We can’t let go of all the brakes yet
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Infectious diseases professor Steven Callens (UGent), also a member of the GEMS, understands the need to put more emphasis on freedom and personal responsibility, but also expressed his concern. “We are not in the same situation as last summer. Then there were fewer patients in hospitals and fewer confirmed cases, and there was also less virus circulation,” he explained to Radio 1 this morning.
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“A number of elements have changed significantly: the vaccinations, we know much better how to deal with the virus and politicians know what decisions to make if things go wrong. In addition, our health system has also been adapted.”
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On the other hand, Callens also wants to point out that the vaccination rate is still not high. “We are not yet at 70 percent. One vaccine protects less against transmission of the virus. These are elements that we have to take into account and through which you hope that people will continue to use their common sense. We can’t let go of all the brakes yet.”
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Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden briefly indicated the changes on Radio 1 on Saturday. This must make the rules “consistent and clear”, she emphasized. She also added the context of the corona figures, which are moving in the right direction, especially thanks to the vaccinations. “The Consultation Committee has decided to return the responsibility to the people for the contacts at home. In the meantime, we all know what to do to deal with corona safely, and that certainly also applies to contacts at home.”
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According to Verlinden, policymakers have now tried to “make as many rules as possible consistent and unambiguous, so that they are also understandable”. “We already know that four of us can have a drink on an open terrace. From June 9th it will also be possible to sit at a table with four inside. Hence it seemed consistent and unambiguous to recommend this measure in the first place, but no longer make it mandatory for social distancing at home as well.”
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Verlinden added that it is never the intention to check everyone’s home. “If you then make the parallel with, for example, an appointment at a restaurant or cafe, it would be strange that that distance no longer applies there, but that you have to use it at home.” That would be a “wrong signal”.
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