From next Friday, guests will no longer have to sit inside if there are fewer than 500 guests inside. The much-discussed corona pass – with which people must demonstrate that they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative, will remain in force for the time being. For nightclubs, this would mean they can open the doors too, but only until 1am. From February 25, the night catering industry can open indefinitely, if it is up to the cabinet.
Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health) exceptionally sends the measures to the House of Representatives, even before the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) has issued advice, and before the Security Council has been consulted. The reason for this is that the cabinet wants to allow the relaxations to take effect quickly, and the House must formally hit it again. Normally there is a week in between.
It is now an intended package, which may change in the coming days. Prime Minister Mark Rutte previously said it would be a ‘kind of what-it-could-be package’. On Tuesday, corona minister Ernst Kuipers will announce the definitive measures during a press conference. Rutte will not be there for the first time in a long time.
Boris van der Ham, chairman of the Dutch Association of Cinemas and Film Theaters (NVBF) and the organization of free theater producers, says in a reaction to De Telegraaf that he is ‘very happy’ with the cabinet plan: completely open again in the short term. “Very important for the culture sector and cinemas. We do hope to get support from the government in restarting the sector, and to enter into talks quickly to ensure that the 2022/2023 season goes relatively normally, and that we think about what to do if there is again a virus emerges.”
The KNVB is also very satisfied if it is true that the football stadiums can open completely again soon. “Last weekend, professional football jointly made the statement: the stadiums are full again. So it will be clear what we really want. We are happy with this, but the final relaxations will not be announced until Tuesday evening.”
Nightclubs hate that they have to close at 1 o’clock the first week. “So this is of no use to us,” says entrepreneur Pieter de Kroon of Chicago Social Club. “I have been shouting from the rooftops for a long time that they have to start working with a walk-in time. So make sure that people have to be inside by a certain time, and then don’t let anyone in again.”
They are in a relatively safe bubble, he says. “The situation will then no longer change if everyone has had a corona check. You also prevent people suddenly all standing outside and causing problems, or that they sit together in the house. With all the associated risks.”