While the number of positive corona tests continues the downward trend and the number of corona patients in hospitals is gradually declining, the cabinet is preparing for a new press conference on Tuesday. Other than the announced reopening of theaters, cinemas and libraries, no new relaxation is expected. However, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Hugo de Jonge hope to be able to say more about Christmas and the New Year.
RIVM reported 4,873 new positive tests on Monday. A decrease compared to Sunday, but also a slight increase compared to a week earlier. More corona patients were treated in the hospitals than the day before, although that does not surprise Ernst Kuipers, chairman of the National Acute Care Network. “The overall picture of a gradual decline is favorable.”
Prime Minister Rutte already warned on Friday that although the turn appears to have been taken, the figures are still far from the level where one can think of easing. If the trend continues, he hopes to be at that level by mid-December. “We want to say something about that in that press conference next Tuesday,” he said at the time. “Probably not yet exactly what can be done again, but we do know how we will continue to work on that in the coming weeks to map that out exactly.”
What will be the route to a safe Christmas?
It is expected that the cabinet will outline on Tuesday what it sees for itself in the coming weeks and what it takes to start the holidays in a responsible manner. A concrete Christmas route map is not expected.
For the cabinet, the dilemma is on the table as to which figures can be considered for relaxation. There is a roadmap that makes it clear when what measures must be taken if the infections increase, but those involved argue that this roadmap does not work for a way back.
This is because the pressure on healthcare will continue for some time, if the infection figures fall. Also, with easing, it should be taken into account that people think too quickly that the virus has been defeated.
Prime Minister Rutte last Friday: “What we learned from the easing in June and July is that if you broaden the situation too quickly, we all think it is a bit normal again. Of course it was not.”
With the route to Christmas, the cabinet is considering, among other things, how the partial lockdown of 13 October will turn out. The two weeks of aggravation with the closure of the museums, theaters, cinemas and libraries is over anyway. Further easing seems out of the question, rather it is looking at whether additional measures are needed, although it is not known what the cabinet is thinking about.
Corona policy sputters; ministers complain anonymously about course
During the latest press conference, the Prime Minister and Minister Hugo de Jonge screened a curfew for the regions that failed to control the virus, but that plan has been moved to the refrigerator. The question is whether the measure will be withdrawn at all. To the work out that plan is not even being worked on anymore.
Coalition party D66, among others, recently turned openly against the curfew and the cabinet is also increasingly criticizing the approach of Prime Minister Rutte, Minister De Jonge and Minister Tamara van Ark (Medical Care).
Including via the Telegraph, RTL News and the Algemeen Dagblad ministers anonymously expressed dissatisfaction with tougher measures that would further damage the economy and curfew. Consultations would have “got out of hand” and strong accusations would have been made in the direction of De Jonge, because the source and contact research and the test policy would be “a mess”.
Do parliamentary elections cross corona policy?
According to the prime minister, it is true that it has been crackling in the cabinet lately. “Within this cabinet, people have been thinking very differently about everything for 3.5 years and eventually you will come to joint conclusions”, Rutte said earlier. What is new is that the crackling finds its way to the media and discussions from the Council of Ministers can be read in the newspapers.
According to the prime minister, this has to do with the corona crisis being an “exciting time” for everyone in the cabinet, where some ministers also want to consider the consequences for the economy or loneliness. These are heated discussions that are not conducted along party lines, he told the Friday WE.
At the same time, party interests will increasingly thwart corona policy. With Rutte (VVD), De Jonge (CDA) and Sigrid Kaag (D66), the cabinet counts three party leaders who enter the election battle together.
For Kaag it will be a search for ways to profile itself while De Jonge is still busy implementing the brand new CDA leadership. In the meantime, Rutte, as crisis manager with the VVD, is at a lonely height in the polls, but ministers who anonymously walk the streets with each other can damage his reputation.
The press conference with Prime Minister Rutte and Minister de Jonge starts on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
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