The police of the city of Antwerp will impose from Monday on any person over twelve years of age to have a mask with them, everywhere and all the time, announced Sunday the mayor of Antwerp Bart De Wever (N-VA). A general obligation to wear the mask is not on the agenda, he said, so that “no absurd restrictions will be imposed on the places and times when physical distancing can be perfectly guaranteed “. He invited the National Security Council, which meets on Monday, to follow suit in order to be able to pursue a “clear, uniform and logical” policy.
–
–
According to the mayor of the port city and president of the N-VA, the exceptions to the obligation to wear a mask are: when you are in a catering establishment to consume, when you exercise a static activity while respecting the physical distancing and during an activity that guarantees sufficient distance from people outside of its own bubble. “Occasionally bumping into people outside of one’s own bubble without maintaining a distance for a short while doesn’t detract from the ongoing nature of that respect,” said De Wever.
In his eyes, the ministerial decree of Friday which imposes the wearing of a mask in shopping streets or in any busy public place, determined by the competent local authority, gives rise to too many questions.
“In a metropolis of 530,000 inhabitants, the economic and social heart of Flanders, the delimitation of shopping streets and potentially frequented axes means that hundreds of streets would be equipped with signs to impose the obligation of the mask”, commented Bart De Wever. “With the many bustling district centers, that wouldn’t make sense either. In addition, this would not take into account neighborhoods that can be very crowded at unpredictable times of the day, ”he continued.
For him, certain situations can affect the population’s adherence to these regulations. This is the reason why he rejects a general obligation to wear a mask.
Mr De Wever also said he had taken due note of the opinions of experts, including Professor Van Ranst, that a general and unconditional obligation to wear a mask, such as exists in some municipalities, is superfluous.
Forcing them to have a mask on them at all times, and being able to impose them in all crowded places, allows them to have a rule proportional to the societal objective: to prevent people from not respecting physical distancing without wearing mask in high-risk areas. This rule takes into account the changing and sometimes unpredictable nature of the situations that can arise in the streets and squares of a large city.
The rule will be applied after a period of awareness. According to him, it lends itself to application across the country. “The second wave not only arrived earlier than expected, it is also unrealistic to believe that it will remain local. For that, it is simply too late, ”he concluded.
–
Related
