Mark Rutte did not waste any time during the press conference. The developments surrounding the corona virus in our country are not going well. Working from home will continue to be the norm after 1 September and will not be over for the cabinet. The schools will reopen on the basis of advice from the Outbreak Management Team. And at those schools, a safe environment has been and continues to be done with all the effort.

That is a compliment to all of the education system, but it is also a responsibility of all of us to ensure that schools remain safe. Yet the cabinet does not act with really tough measures that can be enforced. Family parties are no longer there and a maximum of six people are allowed to gather behind the front door, taking into account the XNUMX meter measures.

As announced by Rutte, Amsterdam later tonight presented targeted measures to reduce the risks in busy places in the city. Mayor Halsema also indicated that enforcement is difficult and that there is of course also a national shortage of police and boas in Amsterdam. After all, the aim of the government is to intervene as effectively as possible. Regional where possible and nationally where necessary. 

“My message tonight boils down to this: between March and June we showed that we can get the virus under it. With each other. And now we have to show that we can control the virus. With each other. That is the only way, ”said Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

mayors are given a lot of power

Mayors are gaining more and more power to enforce regional or local measures. This is a bad development given that there is no national legislation and not all measures can be taken legally. In addition, the mayors are gaining more and more say. When Halsema wants to close a venue after a warning, it can also happen without any legal intervention.

Too often things go wrong in the private sphere, behind the front door and in rooms. At family gatherings, at birthday parties, neighborhood drinks and in groups of friends. Mark Rutte gives it advice that such parties can be better controlled in the catering industry. Mayor Femke Halsema thinks that the catering industry is the culprit and does not support the advice of the cabinet. And yet it is better to go to a catering room, where there is more space, where you have a fixed seat and where that one and a half meters is easier to maintain.

no polonaises

In line with this: if you celebrate your birthday, anniversary or wedding in a rented room, you can do so from a meter and a half, with registration and a check call.

“The guests must have a fixed seat and no physical contact. So don't change places between courses. No polonaises. And congratulate from a distance. And I say again: that is not fun, but it just has to. This is therefore an obligation that we underline again and we ask venue renters and catering entrepreneurs to pay close attention to this, if they do not already do so. Extra attention will also be paid to this in enforcement, ”says Rutte.

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