Are you ready? Are we ready? dutchnews.nl/news/2020/08/p…
You can watch it here. nos.nl/l/2344562
We've got Rutte, de Jonge and someone who is not Irma on the stage. Rutte starts: It's not going well with corona. [Thank you captain obvious]
Rutte says we really don't want to see a second lockdown [no we do not.]
Sadly, Rutte says, many people are not adhering to the distance measures, in particular behind closed doors. [Shocker. Who could have guessed?]
Rutte says this is where we see the most infections. [Even Rutte hates the dreaded Dutch circle party.]
He says they are now asking people not to organize things with groups at home. [Circle parties are banned.]
Groups in restaurants and bars are limited to six. And everyone has to be asked if they have complaints and keep the distance.
The advice to work from home continues. [Was this still happening? We hadn't noticed.]
Rutte says that schools can open again. [Good thing since that's already started in some places.]
"We have shown that we can get the virus under control, now we have to show that we can keep the virus under control. Together."
Now over to everyone's favorite shoe model, Huge de Jonge.
"We don't have the luxury to say that it isn't that bad," de Jonge starts.
He says that we see in the dashboard that in some regions the infections are rising. They estimate that 50,000 people in the country are infectious.
"We notice people don't always keep in quarantine." [Yeah we noticed that too.]
He says they are looking into whether it is possible to force people into quarantine and also if it's possible to reduce the quarantine from 14 days to 10 days. [Does the number of days matter if no one actually quarantines?]
He ends by saying that we cannot do this alone. We have to do it with 17 million people.
First question: I don't hear strict measures, only advice to invite fewer people. Why is that? [That is also our question.]
Rutte says that we see that people take recommendations into account. [Didn't you just say...the exact opposite of that?]
Rutte says that measures will be taken regionally before nationally.
De Jonge adds that it may be possible to force people to quarantine, but that most people do follow the quarantine.
Next question: Is it really ok to put back in school without social distancing?
De Jonge says that's what the Outbreak Management Team says. Teachers have to keep the distance and students have to stay home if they have symptoms.
He also says that schools are not a driving force behind the infections.
Next question: Can we have an app on the first of September? De Jonge says yes. [This is literally what he's said every time he's been asked about every previous launch date for this godforsaken app.]
He says they are trying to ensure the app meets privacy regulations and they want it to be done quickly. [You're getting lawyers to work in August?]
De Jonge is giving us an academic lecture about how you could now legally force someone to stay in quarantine. Tl;dr: it's hard.
Next questions: The hospital admissions do seem to go slower? De Jonge says yes, this is going better and is better under control.
We've switched translators again. How on earth did Irma do this all by herself before!?!?
A question about whether or not the restrictions to groups at home is nationally? Yes. everywhere. You can only have six adults together in a house. [What about all those polyamorous couples?]
Rutte also says that regions can take more strict measures.
Is de Jonge getting paid by the word tonight?
Can we have events? Yes, things can be organised but with the distance and people must be seated.
[Wait...has Rutte just turned all festivals into a giant circle party?]
Rutte adds that this means there will be no further financial support for events, etc.
Rutte has gotten off on a tangent about how the government doesn't want to be the corona police and we had positive experiences in March with restrictions so we need more of that.
Next question: Are we back to a crisis? Rutte says we don't want that. [No one wants that but that was not the question.]
There is a question about the handhaving, that's the sort of police-lite who have been enforcing a lot of the corona rules.
Rutte says that it is first the responsibility of the owners of bars and restaurants to ensure the rules are being kept. He says that the problem is that after a few drinks, people feel more comfortable and don't think of the rules.
An excellent question: What, exactly, is new tonight? Rutte says keeping to six adults in the house.
Someone asks "Do you look down on groups who don't adhere to the rules?" Rutte says that he doesn't, he's trying to be honest about what is happening and what can be done.
Next question: It looks like it is going better in Rotterdam. Can we learn anything from that?
De Jonge says that the numbers have been down on Rotterdam for the last few days but it's not clear if that's a trend.
Maybe...de Jonge is trying to lull us all to sleep until corona is over?
There's a question about the spreading. De Jonge says contact research is a difficult thing, you have to research 50-60 people and the public health agencies don't have that kind of capacity.
How are you going to improve communication someone asks? [Here's one suggestion.]
https://twitter.com/flylittlewing/status/1295780777976897537
Rutte says they are trying to reach target groups. He says that the criticism is always "It's too late and the communication wasn't good." [If the shoe fits...]
Ok that's it, our story will be out shortly. In the meantime, donations keep the lights on. dutchnews.nl/donate-to-dutc…
We need more gin, so if y'all could be generous that would be great.
Here's the full story. See you at the next one where they announce dramatic measures like walking only one direction on the sidewalk and thinking hard about going out before you go out. dutchnews.nl/news/2020/08/n…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
