The Ministry of Health has started talks about a long-term strategy for the corona crisis. The brainstorming sessions are held with small groups of people from various sectors.
The House of Representatives has repeatedly called for a broader vision on how society should deal with the corona crisis in the future. Outgoing Prime Minister Rutte and Minister De Jonge said Tuesday in the House that the cabinet hopes to be a long way further with this before the end of next month.
Society as open as possible
The sessions with about ten participants per group started this week, such as The Telegraph reported this morning. A letter to potential participants states that the meetings are intended to examine from a practical point of view how society can remain as safe and open as possible.
The letter asks questions such as: “How can we use the seasonal effect in the sense that we can do more in the summer than in the winter? To what extent are we prepared to adjust our behavior (long-term) to prevent infections? we increase the vaccination coverage even further?” According to De Telegraaf, one of the ideas discussed in the sessions is that it is better to get together with a lot of family in the summer than in the winter.
The ministry has asked various parties to nominate discussion participants.
Lockdowns cannot be completely ruled out
Rutte said in the House this week that the vision must, among other things, answer the question: “How do we keep track of the virus in the longer term and what periodic contact-limiting measures are required.” The prime minister also said on Tuesday that lockdowns cannot be ruled out, but that he wants to try to keep the chance of them as small as possible. “We would also have received Omikron with a long-term strategy. That would have led to a lockdown, whatever long-term strategy you have,” Rutte emphasized.
De Jonge spoke on Tuesday about more order, peace and regularity in decision-making and more predictability for citizens. He wants “to have to impose as few restrictions as possible, and certainly not as jerky as it is now every time”.
In the House of Representatives, Rutte also said that the government wants to keep a ‘pilot flame’ in care to prevent the virus from flaring up again. This means that care can be scaled up and down more easily. There will be a separate task force for measures in healthcare.
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