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The Dutch government on Monday announced new additional measures to combat the novel coronavirus, including banning all meetings and gatherings, and fines for shops and people that do not obey the regulations.
The ban on all meetings, events and gatherings is effective until June 1. Mayors are given the power to enforce measures against group formation, to close shops, to impose fines to those who do not keep a distance of at least 1.5 meters from each other.
Despite the tightened-up measures, the government has not ordered a total lockdown in the country.
"We are not going to tell healthy people that they can't get a breath of fresh air anymore," explained Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a press conference in The Hague. "Just stay at home as much as possible. Go outside alone and don't take your kids to the supermarket. Do it a little bit intelligently, and you don't need the government to determine how to keep that 1.5-meter distance."
The message was mainly one of confidence in the behavior of the population, but Rutte also came with a warning finger, after seeing images of crowded markets and beaches in the country last Saturday.
"The behavior of all those people on the beaches and markets is anti-social. I'll say it again, especially to young people. Do not do it only for yourself, but do it at least for others, for the elderly. We live here with 17 million people."
Since Sunday, 34 more patients in the Netherlands died from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 213. The age of the deceased was between 55 and 97 years. In addition, 545 more people tested positive, and the total number of confirmed cases now stood at 4,749.
