Mayors to be stricter with social distancing in catering industry

After two weeks of mainly issuing warnings, mayors in the Netherlands are going to be more strict with violations of social distancing measures in catering establishments. Both businesses and customers who do not stick to the rules in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus can expect fines, Hubert Bruls said on Monday after a meeting of the Security Council, which consists of the mayors that head the 25 security regions, ANP reports.

"If the basic rule - 1.5 meters apart - is not systematically followed, we as government will act. Keeping your distance is crucial to literally keep the coronavirus off your body," said Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen and chairman of the Security Council. Fines will only be issued at catering establishments that already received warnings. And the customers themselves will also be fined if they don't stick to the rules.

"We see that it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to keep a distance. We hear that from all over the country, from north to south and from east to west. We can't go on like this. We should not let this basic rule go by the wayside," Bruls said.

Hospitality association KHN previously raised concerns about catering establishments being fined because customers do not adhere to social distancing measures. According to KHN, the catering industry is the only industry that is held accountable for their customers' actions.