The cabinet is leaning towards stricter measures for public transport, amateur sports and possibly also the catering industry, according to NOS and RTL Nieuws on Monday, based on sources from The Hague. The cabinet consulted on Sunday in the Catshuis with its most important advisers about the developments surrounding the corona virus. Another press conference between Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) is expected to take place on Tuesday evening.
The cabinet is leaning towards stricter measures for public transport, amateur sports and possibly also the catering industry, according to NOS and RTL Nieuws on Monday, based on sources from The Hague. The cabinet consulted on Sunday in the Catshuis with its most important advisers about the developments surrounding the corona virus. Another press conference between Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) is expected to take place on Tuesday evening.
The purpose of the additional corona measures would be to further reduce the number of travel movements and contacts between people.
According to NOS and RTL Nieuws, the draft measures would show that there will probably be a temporary ban on amateur sports for all persons over the age of eighteen. They also write that the cabinet is considering restrictive measures for the catering industry. Bar and restaurant owners may hang a closure over their heads. However, this would still be the subject of discussion.
In addition, insiders report to RTL Nieuws that public transport will probably only be used for necessary journeys. That would mean that only people who have a vital profession are allowed to use public transport. In addition, the cabinet will again call on Dutch people to work from home as much as possible. The cabinet has yet to make a final decision on this too.
Finally, the government is considering stricter measures for permitted group sizes, the NOS writes. The maximum number of thirty people in an indoor space may be further limited.
Sources from The Hague emphasize to RTL and NOS that the cabinet is currently still working on the new package of measures. Rutte and De Jonge will probably announce this package on Tuesday evening.
Number of positive tests increased after ‘crucial weekend’
The number of new positive tests per day has increased significantly in recent weeks. De Jonge said on Thursday that the cabinet “is forced to take additional measures” if the number of new cases does not decrease. In the run-up to this, Rutte labeled the past weekend as “possibly crucial” if there was no leveling off.
On Monday, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reported that the GGDs registered 6,854 new positive corona tests in the past 24 hours. This was a bigger increase than Sunday’s, when 6,378 positive tests were reported.
Rutte and De Jonge announced on 28 September that the catering industry must close by 10 p.m. at the latest, that the maximum number of people inside was reduced to thirty and that there should no longer be an audience at sports matches. Later there was an “urgent advice” to wear a mouth mask on top of public indoor spaces.
