Thursday is the 11th of the 11th, the official kick-off of the carnival season. Normally a big party, but in the middle and north of Limburg because of the many coronabesmettingen the festivities already cancelled. They do not intend to do that in South Limburg and North Brabant. Helen Mertens, chair of the Regional Consultation Acute Care Chain (ROAZ) in Limburg, is now calling on administrators to scale down large-scale events, such as the carnival parties in South Limburg.
“It is really incredibly busy in Limburg,” says Mertens, who is also chairman of the Board of Directors of Maastricht UMC. “We had already had admission stops in the hospital in recent weeks, and the emergency room was closed. That of course causes enormous disruption in our province.”
“Large events and an increase in the number of spreads are certainly not going to help us,” says Mertens. “There is sufficient knowledge that major events lead to more infections. On behalf of the ROAZ directors, I am now really calling on politicians and administrators to take their responsibility and scale down large-scale events such as carnival.”
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So far that doesn’t seem to be happening. After North and Central Limburg decided to cancel carnival events, South Limburg decided not to. In their own words the region therefore adheres to the national guidelines. However, the 11th of the 11th restrictions will apply due to corona.
‘This is what we can do’
They do things differently in Den Bosch. There are 25,000 wristbands sold, which gives you access to 70 places where you can party. “We know exactly how many people are coming,” says Mayor Jack Mikkers. “The rest are not welcome and we will also stop it. Normally it is 60,000 people, this is the maximum I can do with my toolbox.”
In the video below you can see how Carnival was celebrated indoors last February:
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Hossing through the living room: ‘It’s a different way of celebrating carnival’
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If he would not let the events go ahead, Mikkers says, the catering industry would still open. “Then we will have an uncontrolled situation in the city. That means that I am dependent on individual catering entrepreneurs, whether they cooperate with the admission ticket. I thought that risk was too great. Now eight places have been cordoned off to party.”
If you decide that these carnival parties are not allowed to continue, then you should also take other measures, according to Mikkers. “Then you also have to stop playing football matches,” he says. “Or close the catering industry. Then it is equal monks, equal hoods.”
At the same time, doctors, like Mertens in Limburg, are seriously concerned. “I have those concerns too,” says Mikkers. “There is also an increase in hospitals here. These are also exciting times for us. I think we all have a knot in the stomach with the situation as it is developing now. The most important thing is that people adhere to the basic measures and get vaccinated.”
For hospital administrator Mertens in Maastricht, the measure is already full. “We have high infection rates and a high absenteeism rate in the care organizations. There is no more room in the Limburg hospitals. And despite all the good intentions, also due to pressure in the other provinces, the spread of Limburg patients over the rest of the the country, but is very limited. So we really expect help from the rest of the country now.”
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