I'm not sure I can face the emotional rollercoaster of live-tweeting Rutte's #persconferentie tonight - if you want that stuff in English, I'd recommend following the admirable @DutchNewsNL.
But if anyone cares, my preliminary hot take would probably be:
But if anyone cares, my preliminary hot take would probably be:
It's hard for non-experts to draw reliable conclusions from the last six months, but one seems to be: by postponing a lockdown you don't avoid having one- you just ensure it has to be even worse. That's what NL has done: avoided painful decisions, and hence made them more painful
The government now seems to be in the awful position where what they announce (bar closures, no team sports) will probably be enough to make everyone miserable and wreck the hospitality industry, but only put a dent in a new infections. A terrible situation, with no easy way out.
I'm reminded of the old joke my grandmother used to tell about driving in rural Ireland and stopping to ask directions to the big city. "Dublin?" the friendly local replies. "Well if I was trying to get to Dublin, I wouldn't start from here".
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