Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) hopes that the mayors will ask their police forces to check the corona measures in the catering industry. And if that happens too little, we should avoid such cafes and restaurants ourselves. Horeca Vlaanderen thinks the minister’s statements are a pity.
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“If I go to a cafe where the corona pass is not taken seriously, I will go outside again,” the minister said in an interview on Radio 1. What’s more: he would prefer that everyone no longer visits such catering establishments. When asked by the radio journalist whether we should boycott those catering establishments, the minister answers: ‘Absolutely’. “It’s about safety. Your health is also my responsibility. Your well-being is also my responsibility. And my health is also your responsibility.’
Vandenbroucke hopes that the police will monitor the follow-up of the corona measures more closely.
Horeca Vlaanderen finds the communication of the minister somewhat unfortunate because he gives the impression that the catering industry follows the measures too little. And the catering industry does, the sector federation tells the VRT. Horeca Vlaanderen is particularly bothered by the tone of voice from the minister. “Serenity works better.”
Dancing without a mouth mask
On Radio 1, Minister Vandenbroucke also talked about the discotheques. Dancing without a mouth mask in discotheques is possible, he says. The scheme whereby self-tests can replace mouth masks in nightlife seemed to be in jeopardy because a cooperation agreement between the various governments is still needed. That could take days.
But according to Minister Vandenbroucke, that is not the case. ‘We’re not going to wait for that. We are a complicated country and the legislation is always complicated, but the agreement is that we will not wait for it,’ he says. As of today, no mouth mask is needed in a disco, on a double condition: ‘You use the corona pass correctly, you check it seriously. The second condition is that you organize and check a self-test. You only let in those who, in addition to the corona pass, can also prove that the self-test is negative.’
However, the minister insists on caution. “We are in an explosion of the virus.” He therefore calls on people to be very careful, to avoid too many contacts, to meet outside or to wear a mouth mask, for example. Anyone who goes to an event with more than 50 attendees must ensure that the corona pass is used seriously. In a nightclub it is therefore possible without a mask, but then a serious self-test must be carried out beforehand. “Otherwise you shouldn’t do that.”
Vandenbroucke also asks for caution for private parties. The mouth mask is mandatory at private parties from 50 people. ‘If I were to organize a private party, I would also agree to do a self-test, even if it is not an obligation.’
Even stricter?
Frank Vandenbroucke is still concerned. “I hope these measures will suffice. But I think we can only avoid real closures and lockdown measures if we follow this in full now and are incredibly careful on top of that.’
“I cannot rule out stricter measures,” said the minister. ‘That will depend on how well we implement and monitor these measures.’ The minister did not want to say which figures we would have to become stricter about.
“But I fear that we will continue to see an increase in admissions for a while, because the infection rates continue to rise. We see 17 to 18,000 infections every day: I fear that we will not stop this train immediately. What I want to see is that everyone will start teleworking from Monday: talk to your boss about it too. You can demand this from your employer. And the same goes for everyday life: be very careful.’
Correction: initially the piece stated that Vandenbroucke himself suggested a boycott of the catering industry (which does not follow the measures). He only said “absolutely” at the suggestion of the journalist who asked if the minister called for a boycott of those things.
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