On Sunday afternoon, part of the caretaker cabinet will discuss whether it is possible to start with an intended opening plan at the end of April, including a reopening of terraces. The ministers most involved in the corona crisis are informed in the Catshuis about the latest developments with the virus by Jaap van Dissel of RIVM, among others. Until now, planned relaxation has always been postponed.
The cabinet wants to get society out of the hard lockdown in five steps in the coming months, provided that the figures go in the right direction. A first step is planned for April 28. In addition to the terraces, it also concerns the abolition of the curfew, home visits for two people per day and shops that would get more sales opportunities. From April 26, the colleges and universities would also reopen for at least one day a week of physical education.
But in recent days, Prime Minister Mark Rutte has been gloomy about whether everything will work out this month. If it does not work, the implementation of the plan will be postponed for a week. The cabinet has said that it will now decide on the situation and possible downsizing on a weekly basis. According to insiders, it is also possible that only one or two of all the relaxations devised in the first step will still be implemented in April.
A downscaling depends on the daily admissions of corona patients in hospitals, because they still cause enormous pressure there, Rutte and healthcare minister Hugo de Jonge reported last Tuesday. They want the peak of the current third corona wave to be reached first. However, the average number of new infections rose again in the past seven days. On Saturday there were more than 8300.
From Monday, after-school care will reopen, under the same conditions as the primary schools.
Also read: Curfew and open terraces on the table in Catshuis
