The sources in The Hague tell NOS that the cabinet is not making wearing a face masks obligatory in the public places nationally yet. The Cabinet is going to discuss on the recommendations today and take a decision today itself. It will probably be possible for mayors to introduce face masks on a small scale, locally.
Yesterday, the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) met to draw up a new advisory report on the effect of wearing face masks.
No reason
The cabinet sees no reason to implement the use of face masks. However, face masks are now mandatory in public transport because travellers cannot keep enough distance from each other.
The 25 regional public safety boards is meeting in Utrecht today. Minister Van Ark (Medical Care) will also be at that meeting. They’ll be discussing measures related to corona. After the meeting, Hubert Bruls and Van Ark will inform the people.
The directors hope for measures at the regional level. Amsterdam and Rotterdam, for example, want to be able to make wearing a face mask obligatory in their cities. The OMT advisory report on the face masks will also be discussed in the meeting of the Safety Council.
There has been a discussion for some time about whether wearing face mask should be implemented on a national level. The Cabinet has always maintained that this is not necessary, on the advice of the Outbreak Management Team. According to the Cabinet, face masks would ensure false safety.
The mayors of Rotterdam and Amsterdam asked last Wednesday to make wearing face masks compulsory in more places. On Thursday, the House of Representatives wanted the OMT to issue a new recommendation, because new insights might change the decision.
Source: NOS.nl
Translation: Chaitali Sengupta
