A'dam mayor worried that second "partial lockdown" is looming

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema is worried that the rapidly increasing number of coronavirus infections will result in a second  "partial lockdown" in the city. "Amsterdam has already had an incredible blow from the first lockdown. In the economic loss, the increase in unemployment, and the enormous uncertainty among many people," Halsema said in an interview with NU.nl.

"You do not want to repeat that, and so you look for measures like this," the Amsterdam mayor said, referring to face masks now being mandatory in parts of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. She doesn't like wearing a mask either, she said. "Certainly not, but we are looking for ways in which we can influence people's behavior without having to go back to more radical measures."

Halsema hopes that wearing masks will remind people that the coronavirus is still out there. "Because I think a lot of people have just forgotten. You see everywhere in Europe that people forget. Apparently the daily realization that you can get sick is not easy to sustain." She was pleased with Wednesday's introduction of the obligation to wear a mask. "I am not disappointed. The vast majority of people wear a mask."

She believes that more measures will be taken if the number of infections continue to rise, but she would not speculate on what these measures may be. "The cabinet is in control. If a crisis breaks out again and much more serious measures have to be taken, we will follow the cabinet in implementation.