Despite 637 infections and 30 more deaths in the Netherlands today, many Dutch people still think they should not take the appeal of Prime Minister Rutte seriously. Today many people flocked to the beach or decided to travel to visit a hardware store. 

you cannot acquire group immunity at Hornbach

Hornbach has now been the ideal excursion for many since Ikea closed. Hornbach, meanwhile, decided to keep the doors closed on Sunday. According to CNV Vakmensen and FNV, DIY stores must take measures very quickly. In front of some hardware stores, lines of customers are waiting for them to enter. 

The beach pavilions and toilets in Scheveningen are closed, but that does not bother anyone either. Join the A12 to The Hague and then look for a parking space in a column towards Scheveningse Haven. Except a few kiosks on the boulevard is in Scheveningen everything closed. No circus theater, no casino, no beach bars, no catering, no Kurhaus, in short, nothing. Only many day-trippers who do not (yet) understand the seriousness of the situation in this corona crisis.

when are we going to get it

After the lockdown in Belgium, the Dutch are now crossing the border en masse, not for the construction market but for refueling in Flanders. To stop that, some petrol stations have had their payment systems blocked for the use of Dutch debit cards. In the meantime, sky-high fines are also issued by the Gendarmerie. Since March 18, a ban on non-essential travel abroad, including the Netherlands, has been prohibited in Belgium.

At the same time, the government is urging to avoid non-essential travel abroad because of the virus. This means, among other things, refueling, shopping and going on holiday abroad. It is important that people take this advice seriously so that further spread of the virus is prevented as much as possible.

If we want to avoid total lock down, we have to take responsibility. Roger van Boxtel, President and CEO of NS, is also worried and sent the following tweet. 

The trains continue to run in order to be able to continue bringing people to work in vital functions (care, assistance, etc.), not for 'a day out'.

from social abstinence to a real lockdown

Measures are aimed at reducing contact between people, everything depends on people's behavior. And yet people walk on the boulevard to see that everything is closed. 

Even where a line of waiting people is neatly lined up a meter and a half apart for a squabble at a kiosk, others feel they should walk straight through the queue without realizing what they are doing.

With the outbreak of the corona crisis, Jaap van Dissel, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Control of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) suddenly became known to everyone. Today he spoke his concern from.

“With regard to the interventions 'keeping distance from each other', 'working from home' and the like, I am concerned about the behaviour, how people adhere to it. It is serious business and one should not treat it laconically.”

If this proves necessary, you could close shops or public transport in addition to the current measures. Or even: that eventually everyone should stay at home. You will then increasingly move from social abstinence to a real lockdown.

Also read: Historical TV speech by Mark Rutte about the corona crisis

Pier Scheveningen
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