Again Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Hugo de Jonge gave a press conference about the current state of affairs regarding corona and the measures related to it. There will be no new measures, but cozy parties together in the private sphere are taboo from now on. Keep it at home with six people on your birthday / anniversary / dinner, and that’s the maximum.
Bitter necessity, says Rutte. The fact that corona infections have continued to increase since the last press conference two weeks ago – which was also full of warnings – is very worrying. “If we are not careful, we will be back to square one in the foreseeable future. Back to overburdened care, back to locked up land, back to where we don’t want to be. ”
Where, according to the Outbreak Management Team (OMT), things go terribly wrong are the parties in the private sphere. There they feel unjustly safe and there is some hugging and kissing and therefore not kept a meter and a half away, and that can be seen in the rising corona numbers. If you want to celebrate a party, rent a room, Rutte emphasizes.
‘No sweet cookies’
There is more space in a room, with sufficient seats and the lessor strictly monitors the one-and-a-half meter rule. In addition, extra enforcement will be used to ensure that people comply with the measures.
Want to celebrate a party at home? Then with a maximum of six people (children not included), give guests a permanent seat and check whether everyone is free of complaints and congratulate remotely. “It doesn’t make a dinner or birthday any more fun, but it is no different. This is no time to bake sweet cookies. ”
‘No reason for relaxation’
Everyone hoped that it could be announced on September 1 that the measures could be relaxed, but that party will (also) be canceled. “The figures give no reason for this,” said the prime minister. People have to work from home as much as possible and even though children can ‘just’ go back to school, but if someone in the family has complaints, students must stay at home.
Home quarantine shorter but may be required
However, the period of home quarantine will soon be shortened, which will now be ten days instead of fourteen, says Hugo de Jonge during his part of the press conference. In the meantime, it is being investigated whether a quarantine can be made mandatory. “With current legislation, this is already possible, together with the mayors of the security regions it is being investigated how this can be done.” Last week, a majority in parliament turned against mandatory home quarantine in a debate.
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