A large part of the cabinet will meet today for an extra scheduled corona consultation in the Catshuis. The rising contamination figures do not bode well.
The prime minister, the three deputy prime ministers and six ministers are informed by RIVM director Jaap van Dissel about the increasing number of new coronavirus infections. More serious measures are on the table that could possibly be used to combat the spread of the virus.
The Outbreak Management Team (OMT) with experts, which advises the cabinet, has already met to analyze the latest developments. A new press conference by Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister of Health Hugo de Jonge is expected to follow this week, possibly Tuesday, sources say.
Extra measures
Last week, Rutte hinted at extra measures in the press conference if the infection rates were not to fall:
He did not want to say what the interventions would be, but he hinted in the Lower House on Wednesday that it could concern measures in education or for non-essential shops. “These are very difficult issues, with far-reaching economic consequences,” said Rutte. Christmas would be spared with an increase, which means that people can receive a maximum of three people during Christmas.
The cabinet is very concerned about the rising contamination figures, because they will lead to even greater pressure on hospitals. The number of new infections per day – Saturday 9182 – has steadily crept towards 10,000 in recent days.
Increase of 27 percent
This high number was also hit at the end of October and early November. In November, the number of new infections daily dropped to around 4000 at the beginning of December. Over the entire past week, the increase was 27 percent.
In addition to financial and economic ministers Wopke Hoekstra, Eric Wiebes and Wouter Koolmees, Tamara van Ark (Public Health), Ferd Grapperhaus (Justice) and Arie Slob (Education) are also present in the Prime Minister’s residence in The Hague.
