Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke to the country for the first time on Friday evening with the new corona minister Ernst Kuipers (D66) at a complicated moment in the pandemic: the Netherlands is the only Western European country in a lockdown, the omikron variant breaks infection records almost daily, but a There has been no increase in the number of hospital patients for the time being. Friday was even a positive milestone: the number of corona patients in the nursing wards fell below a thousand for the first time since November 1.
The figures therefore seem to be going in the right direction, but it is still too early to cheer, the cabinet warns. ‘There are 200,000 infections a week. We are faced with great uncertainties’, said Rutte. As announced, the new corona minister Kuipers showed graphs that should convince that it is serious.
Relaxations
The Netherlands was locked on 19 December because it had started boosting too late and because much was still unclear about the new omikron mutation. As a precaution, all non-essential matters had to be closed and home visits were restricted. Now that the booster campaign is in full swing and it is becoming increasingly clear that omikron has a milder course of disease, Rutte and Kuipers see room for relaxation.
Higher education, gyms and hair salons are allowed to open again. In an attempt to temper impatience in society, shops are also allowed to open during the day without an appointment, while initially this was only allowed if customers had registered in advance. The cabinet also caters to people who have had a booster or who have recovered from corona this year: they will soon no longer need to be quarantined after contact with someone who is infected.
‘There is increasing pressure from all sides to relax further, and that is understandable,’ says Rutte. He says he understands that it “feels completely unfair” for the catering and cultural sector that they still have to remain closed. ‘But the sum determines the risk and therefore not everything can be opened at the same time.’ A ‘new weighing moment’ will follow on Tuesday 25 January.
Resists
There does not seem to be any more space, even if opposition to the remaining measures is increasing. Fifteen mayors from South Limburg say they will allow catering and cultural institutions to open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. In Valkenburg, catering and shops opened their doors on Friday, elsewhere in Limburg that happened before. Industry associations expect members across the country to open the case on Saturday.
Rutte says he understands the resistance in the sectors that are not yet allowed to open, but he points out that it is not the intention that mayors condone civil disobedience. He says he has ‘confidence’ that action will be taken if the rules are not observed. The mayors of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht already indicated this on Friday. Minister Kuipers also insists that compliance is crucial. There is a real chance that the brakes will be lifted again if the catering industry and culture flout the rules.
With this easing package, the government says it is taking a ‘considered risk: simply because it has to’. The number of infections is expected to double. In any case, the cabinet thinks that letting go of all measures is a step too far: too many people could become ill in a short period of time. Absenteeism in crucial care professions, supermarkets and garbage collection in particular could lead to major social disruption. At the same time, the continuation of the lockdown also leads to major social unrest.
Long-term plan
Both Rutte and Kuipers struggle with untangling this Gordian knot. For the time being, the cabinet’s tactics seem to calm people down by easing the quarantine rules and offering perspective to catering businesses and cultural institutions. At the end of this month, the cabinet will present a long-term plan. Minister Kuipers calls it a joint responsibility to ensure that ‘society can remain open’. He calls on the Dutch to boost themselves and to wear a mouth mask ‘more often’, also outside and at work if it is not possible to keep one and a half meters away.
It remains to be seen whether the cabinet’s plea will help. Confidence in corona policy is at an all-time low. Never before were entrepreneurs so desperate that they indicated en masse that they would open their business despite all the commandments and never before have so many mayors shown understanding. It will become clear on Saturday whether the cabinet has managed to curb the impending uprising.