Amersfoort hospital the first in NL to require face masks

From today, all visitors to the Meander Medical Center in Amersfoort will have to wear a non-medical face mask or they won't be allowed inside, the hospital said on its Facebook page.

"Are you visiting a hospitalized patient? From 24 July, we will no longer actively ask you for symptoms that are consistent with the coronavirus. That is why wearing a non-medical face mask is mandatory from that day on," the hospital said. The mask obligation applies to all visitors aged 13 or older. Visitors will also not be allowed to eat or drink in the hospital.

The government will ask its Outbreak Management Team to reassess the effectiveness of wearing face masks in public spaces in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus, Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus announced on Friday after a week of debates and studies on this non-medical protective gear.

Currently, face masks are only obligatory in public transport in the Netherlands. But with coronavirus infections spiking again, the mayors of Amsterdam and Rotterdam asked the government to extend this obligation to other public spaces as well. Experts in the medical field advised that these masks be worn in catering establishments and contact professions, by both customers and staff. And researchers from the University of Twente and Utrecht University Medical Center advocated for their use.