The Northern Three provinces have the lowest infection rates
It is certainly not an option to open up the North earlier and to relax ongoing regulations in the region, says Mayor Koen Schuiling of Groningen. According to the mayor, we don’t know enough about the virus, and opening up the North could lead to a new movement of people around the country.
As reported by the Dagblad van het Noorden, Schuiling responded to Prime Minister Rutte’s announcement that The Netherlands will remain in the lock down for the time being, and that there will be no relaxation, not even for the hospitality and catering industry.
Schuiling says that he was disappointed that there was no further movement and is concerned about the catering industry in Groningen, according to him the “atmosphere maker of the province”. But he also thinks that it is unfortunately not possible to open the hospitality industry anyway. “Everyone would like more to be possible, but it’s all about care, about hospitals, that’s what we do it all for.”
That is why opening up the North has not been a topic of discussion in a meeting between the Dutch mayors and the cabinet: “people can then think: we are going to the camping site or restaurant in the north of the Netherlands. But then I have an enforcement problem. ”
In any case, the mayor is very pleased with the way in which the rules are observed in Groningen. According to him, very few fines have been issued so far, and he does not expect people to violate the rules from now.
According to Schuiling, consideration is being given to how museums and cinemas could open again in the not too distant future, because hardware stores are already open. The fact that museums are not yet open is because it is more difficult there to manage visitor flows. How that will be solved, “that is what the thinking has started. But they will remain closed until May 20. That is absolutely clear”, he said.
Image via the Gemeente Groningen
