A Rotterdam park encouraged social distancing
with circles spray-painted on the grass.
TIGHTER CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS POSSIBLE AFTER
CROWDS FLOCK TO PARKS, BEACHES
By Byron
Mühlberg on May 21, 2020 - 18:44
Social
distancing restrictions will again be tightened in the Netherlands if the
crowds which gathered in celebration of an incredibly sunny Ascension Day are
any indication of the upcoming summer, said Hubert Bruls, who chairs the
council which oversees the country's 25 emergency services regions. "If
this is the picture of summer, we'll have a summer with a lot of
limitations," said Bruls, who also serves as the mayor of Nijmegen.
He told
broadcaster NOS that when it becomes so crowded as to make it impossible to
enforce the 1.5-meter physical distance rules, then the government will have to
implement new constraints on society again. The council which Bruls helms has
been instrumental in advising the Cabinet on restrictions, the authority which
municipalities needed to enforce those restrictions, and how the public has
adhered to the rules on a local and regional level.
"If we
all stick to the measures, we will help to avoid further restrictions when
summer really comes," the Haaglanden emergency region said in a statement.
Bruls said
he did not know how many fines had been handed out for physical distance
violations. Police and security enforcers can hand out fines of 390 euros to
any adult violating the rules, and 95 euros to any minor.
Crowds had
gathered in parks and in public places near bodies of water as temperatures in
the Netherlands hit 28 degrees Celsius during the country's celebration of the
Ascension Day public holiday.
In
Amsterdam, the crowds became so large at Vondelpark that gates were closed-off
to new visitors, many of whom were forced to wait outside until enough others
had left the park. Large numbers were also ordered to leave the Marineterrein
on the city's Kattenburg island, as well a parkland area along the Amstel
River, according to multiple published reports.
Mayor Femke
Halsema already said on Tuesday that she was considering tighter restrictions
in Amsterdam because of the city's population density.
Many lakeshore
areas across Gelderland were also closed, and cleared of crowds. Security
services also patrolled the beaches in Almere. Similarly, roadways were closed
to motorized traffic in Vlissingen to ensure that fewer people streamed into
the coastal Zeeland town. Other road restrictions were also imposed earlier in
the day, outside the popular beach towns of Bloemendaal, Heemskerk, IJmuiden,
Wijk aan Zee, and Zandvoort.
German
holidaymakers, also drawn by the sandy Dutch beaches, were warned to keep away
from the Netherlands entirely.
TIGHTER RESTRICTIONS COULD REMAIN IN AMSTERDAM TO
PREVENT COVID-19 SURGE
By Byron
Mühlberg on May 19, 2020 - 18:20
Amsterdam
street largely abandoned due to coronavirus restrictions, 18 March 2020
Covid-19
restrictions may remain in place in the city of Amsterdam even after other
parts of the Netherlands move closer to a full reopening, the city's mayor
Femke Halsema said on Tuesday. This would be done with an eye toward preventing
a rapid resurgence in Covid-19 infections in the city, which carries greater
risks due to its urban density, she said.
"I’m
sorry if I am putting a damper on the atmosphere, but we must realize how
vulnerable we are," Halsema told the city council in a mixed in-person and
video meeting on Tuesday afternoon, according to local broadcaster AT5.
As the
number of new infections, deaths and ICU admissions at the hands of Covid-19
continues to fall across the Netherlands, members of the city council's more
conservative wing are rearing to reopen Amsterdam's catering sector, cultural
sights and even its tourism industry, with tens of thousands of hotel beds
empty across the city.
"In
the coming period we must be extremely cautious about stimulating regional,
national and international transit. If we do that too excessively, we run the
risk that Amsterdam will become the epicenter of a second wave," Halsema
explained in response to the proposals.
The mayor
claimed that the risks associated with reopening in Amsterdam are greater than
they are in other parts of the country, pointing out that if places such as
Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe open up sooner, Amsterdam needs to be more
cautious due to its population density. "It may mean that in Amsterdam the
risks are too great for further reopening," explained Halsema.
Other
council members pointed to the situation in Rotterdam, another
densely-populated city, in which the city's mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb had pleaded
to reopen the terraces before June 1. Halsema dismissed the comparisons,
according to newspaper Parool, asserting that Amsterdam is considerably more
packed with people than Rotterdam.
“Rotterdam
has nearly 200 thousand fewer inhabitants, but a surface area 100 square
kilometers greater; meanwhile our surface area is one-fourth water. In
addition, they have 3,000 catering establishments, and we have 8,000. We have
an inconceivable shortage of public space, so I urge you to be cautious,”
“Have real
expectations. Because we have to use space very carefully,” added the mayor.
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