© © Gil Plaquet
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The police officially closed four cafés in Mechelen last weekend. In the cases, the corona measures were flagrantly flouted. The closure of two cafes even led to verbal and physical aggression. Each time it concerned catering establishments that had already come into contact with the police services.
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During a control action by the Mechelen-Willebroek police last weekend, four cafes in Mechelen were found not to be in order with the corona measures. “In almost all cases, the operator and staff did not wear a mouth-nose mask,” explains Dirk Van de Sande. “However, that has been mandatory for a long time. The registration of customers did not go well in these cases either. Necessary data were not recorded, which would make proper contact tracing impossible in the event of an infection. ”
Because the rules were flagrantly flouted, the police decided to immediately close the four cafes. The managers will be heard by the mayor, who can decide to extend the closure. “When the measures were introduced, all catering establishments were visited by the city’s Economy department,” said Mayor Alexander Vandersmissen (Vld-Groen-m +). “So everyone is aware of the rules, but a limited number of café owners are still hard learners.”
“Despite the daily reports about the figures and the increasing number of infections in the region, there are a few who ignore the rules,” it sounds. “That forces me to close things. I hope this can be a signal to the managers concerned, but also an encouragement to all others who do comply with the rules. Only by strictly following the guidelines will we get out of this difficult period the fastest. ”
In two catering establishments, the mandatory closure did not go without a struggle. “During the controls, our colleagues were verbally harassed by operators, staff members and customers,” says Van de Sande. “One intervention even required reinforcement of an intervention team. Two people were arrested for disturbance and are given an extra police report. ”
All four cafés have already been negative in the past and are therefore known to the police services. “We received several reports of nuisance and during inspections during the past months we found many infringements. One of the cafes was already closed administratively in the past ”, it sounds.
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