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DutchNews.NL

8 Dec, 83 tweets, 12 min read

Prime minister Mark Rutte and health minister Hugo de Jonge will outline the latest situation at a press conference this evening. dutchnews.nl/news/2020/12/a…

https://twitter.com/CryptoGayGuy/status/1336251649925451781

K so more gin then.

https://twitter.com/CryptoGayGuy/status/1336251649925451781

I've missed you all. Can you believe it's been three whole weeks since we've done this?

Cocktails are ready, back to the old standby classic of a gin and tonic, and we're ready to hear that Christmas is canceled!

Oddly enough this correlates to a 27% increase in my gin consumption. dutchnews.nl/news/2020/12/c…

You can follow the full press conference here if you'd rather watch that than read our brilliant insight. nos.nl/artikel/235981…

We've got six minutes. Let's check in. How are things? What are you drinking? How's it going?

Let's go

IRMAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Prime minister Mark Rutte is also trying to wear a blue suit but he pales in comparison to our personal hero Irma. Nice try Rutte.

Rutte says we are at a split in the road. (This he's gonna take the one less traveled by or...?) He says that we have to use to the Christmas period to keep to the measures.

Rutte says: Let's make sure we can celebrate Christmas.

He says to give people maximal space and let's make sure it doesn't strike again.

(Again?! AGAIN?!?!?! WHAT IS THIS? dutchnews.nl/news/2020/12/c…)

In January, he says, we will start a number of testing projects. (On the Hugo de Jongen time scale this means sometime in May).

He says that tomorrow, other members of the cabinet will start to look at another support package for businesses.

(Pretty sure we wrote this exact Tweet last time what have these people been doing for three weeks? Black Friday shopping?)

He also says that young people are having a hard time so they are working on a plan for more activities.

"After nine months, it is logical that we are tired of corona," Rutte says.

(Tired is an understatement.)

Over to Hugo who is also daring to wearing a blue suit it looks like.

"We are not there yet," he says. (Unclear if he's talking about corona or haggling over a price on a used car.)

"Vaccination is the road that will lead us out of this crisis," de Jonge says.

(Yes, because it clearly isn't going to be the stellar leadership.)

"It is a complicated puzzle and we have to do it together. We don't have everything under control," de Jonge says.

We go live to the corona meetings:

De Jonge says that vaccines have to be deemed safe by the European Medical Agency and in Europe they have made agreements for fair distribution of vaccinations.

We've got an average of 6,000 positive tests a day. (Remember when Rutte warned us we MIGHT get to 5000 and how that was terrible? That would be better than our current normal.)

De Jonge says that they know of some 88,000 people who are infectious but do not stay home.

"The virus hurts the most vulnerable," de Jonge says.

He says that he knows that this is a time when people feel badly what they are missing. He is inviting us to help with volunteer projects to try to break some loneliness.

Question time!!

First question is about horeca (I guess it's good it's not about gyms.) Rutte says that it is possible to do more once the intensive care numbers are down, they hoped to be there in mid-December, but that is going to be mid-Janurary. (He hopes.)

Follow up: So you have nothing for horeca?

Rutte says that we have some things prepared and the rest depends on the numbers.

(Some cafes have said they will open mid-Jan regardless of the rules.) dutchnews.nl/news/2020/12/b…

Horeca makes up half of the requests for support, they are really hurting. dutchnews.nl/news/2020/12/c…

Next question: How do you get intensive care admissions down? Rutte says that "we are at a crossroads and that might mean more measures."

(He's also made a weird sorta punching motion twice and honestly maybe corona is getting to him.)

Follow up: What sort of measures? Rutte says that he doesn't know and that will be discussed.

Another question, which is, what's a nice way to say this....really very not grounded in reality: Why are bars and restaurants closed?

(Can I take this one? BECAUSE THERE IS A PANDEMIC)

Rutte says that horeca is closed across Europe, it's not just the Netherlands. He says that this is a sector where people are in close proximity and we need lower intensive care admissions before we can reopen.)

A question about testing: Rutte says that testing doesn't guarantee that bars and restaurants can open, only lower numbers.

Next question: Can you pinpoint a month?

De Jonge says, unsurprisingly, no, because it depends on the process at the European Medical Agency. (INTERESTING because de Jonge has said that vaccinations will start on Jan 4th. Guess this is all running on 'hugo' time.) dutchnews.nl/news/2020/12/d…

Question: How can we celebrate Christmas with only family plus 3? (On Zoom, like we've doing everything else.)

Rutte says that if the numbers don't change, you can expect that the current rules will be in place through Christmas.

A follow up question about New Year's Eve. Rutte says "I would love to tell you something great but we cannot say now."

Rutte says they can't say an exact number but the trend would need to be downward and the positive test rate and hospital admissions would need to be down.

(Stay home and listen to the Top2000.)

Do you want to take more measures? Rutte says no, he doesn't think it's currently necessary.

The journalist says "sounds like fingers crossed." Rutte says we just don't know. De Jonge jumps in to say "You're asking about extra measures but the core is our behavior."

(Judging from Black Friday, the behavior is not going great!)

(Props to the follow up from whoever that journalist was, good work pushing back. You win the Dutch News golden gin and tonic for tonight.)

When can we know? Rutte says "The virus doesn't play like that."

Next question: What about Christmas drinks? (I MEAN REALLY) Rutte says that's a bad idea.

(Well we can agree on that at least.)

Rutte says that gathering in groups of larger than four is not allowed, so Christmas drinks are not permitted.

How do we handle the Christmas shopping? (Order online? Go by yourself? Is this that difficult?) De Jonge says he doesn't think there's a link between the increase and Black Friday shopping. De Jonge also says shop alone, no "fun shopping" and that mayors can take measures.

Can we conclude that measures being lifted in half of January won't happen? De Jonge says that the schedule has been shifted by a month. (Remember though hugo time). We have to have the intensive care more under control before we can list measures.

(Why so many questions about Black Friday you might ask? This is why.) dutchnews.nl/news/2020/11/m…

A note leaked from the ministry of economic affairs about horea opening? Rutte says that he doesn't know about this option. If we open the bars and restaurants, it leads to more infections. He also says that when they discussed things on Sunday, there was no disagreement.

A question from people in Twente. The numbers are really bad. What is the plan? (Not just Twente my friend) De Jonge says we are already in a partial lockdown, Twente is in the same position as the rest of the country.

De Jonge says that new measures can be taken regionally, but that's not the most clear route.

Back to this leaked memo. Would dry horeca lead to fewer infections? Rutte says he doesn't know. He says that the conclusion that this is the case is wrong.

Why is it so difficult to sketch out new measures? Rutte says that they are redoing the road map (ya know the one they have been ignoring so far.)

Rutte: I would much rather people keep to the rules than discussing them.

(A strategy that's been working well for *checks notes* uhhhhh hmmmm)

At the end of November, there was an attempt for stricter measures. Is is clear if those measures helped? (Referring to the shutting of the zoos and libraries.) Rutte says yes, a bit but it's difficult to say what exactly.

Will we start vaccinating on the 4th of Jan? De Jonge says "If all goes well." It depends on what the European Medical Agency does.

Isn't it very optimistic to say 4th Jan? (About as optimistic as "We're gonna get a corona app after a one weekend hackathon.) De Jonge says that's the earliest and that the puzzle is very complex.

A question about traveling to Curacao. It's turned to orange, do people need to come back? Rutte says not immediately but they will need to go into quarantine. He says not to go there. (But also says that Aruba is still yellow, because apparently he want to give people ideas?!?)

No extension of the school Christmas holiday? Rutte says he won't speculate and it depends on the trend.

Would it help to look into having more enforcement of the rules in public? Rutte says that we will see more of this and that there is more now.

We talked about making quarantine obligatory, is that being worked on? (Good question for anyone currently on Curacao.) The issue is being worked on, de Jonge says, but currently it's not mandatory.

You spoke of being at a split in the road, did we take the wrong exit at one point? Rutte says no, we took the right direction, but things aren't going great.

Why is it, then, that we aren't in a better direction? Rutte says that people have to keep to the measures. De Jonge adds that there is also a seasonal influence because people are inside more.

Is it logical that people are tired? Rutte says yes, no one thinks "jippeeee the virus is still here."

(I mean, this is funny. And accurate.)

If people are tired of the corona measures, then is it people's behavior or is it that the measures aren't good? Rutte says that it's the same in Germany, and in the rest of Europe as well. We don't have a privileged position.

Rutte says that it is possible that we will know before Christmas what the (potential) new measures might be, but we don't know and we need the public's help to keep the country safe.

When do we know when it goes badly? Rutte says if it goes wrong in the hospitals, etc.

What is the strategy with the vaccines? De Jonge says that it is dependent on the supplier, there is one that we know about, some others we don't. De Jonge says we need to be flexible and that we will all get our fair share.

Who will the first group for vaccination be? De Jonge says they will first need to know how many vaccines, then they will be able to decide.

They are expecting something like 5-6 million vaccines in the first batch, then 7.7 million more (probably in the second quarter of the year) and then the largest amount in the third quarter of the year.

When will you say the economy is more important? (In determining when to reopen things after vaccinations are available.) The economy is always important. "The best thing for the economy is to stop the virus."

Are you disappointed in the people? Rutte says "No I'm not," if you're talking about the people. He says that if he's talking about himself there are always things that can be improved.

Do people just ignore corona? Rutte says no, the majority of people do follow the rules and understand. But it is not easy.

"The virus only has to be lucky once, we have to be lucky every time," Rutte says.

Why is there no clear number for whether measures could be changed for Chrsitmas? Rutte says it's because they don't only look at one number, they look at a lot of things.