Bergen op Zoom considering "drastic measures" as Covid cases spike
The municipality of Bergen op Zoom is considering "drastic measures", including an obligation to wear masks in public spaces, in the fight against the coronavirus. After Rotterdam and Amsterdam, the Noord-Brabant municipality relatively had the most new coronavirus cases last week. "We mustn't shy away from any means," Bergen op Zoom mayor Frank Petter said to Hart van Nederland.
On Friday it was announced that 104 people in Bergen op Zoom tested positive for the coronavirus over the past week. "That shocked me," Petter said. "People have handled the rules and agreements too laxly in recent days." According to the mayor, the time for warnings has ended and enforcement will now be stepped out. Supermarket managers, for example, have been asked to pay more attention so that their shops don't become too crowded, and to make sure that their shopping trolleys and baskets are disinfected.
The local GGD traced the contacts of all 104 new patients and warned them that they may also be infected. "I am happy that we can still do that in this region," Petter said. In Amsterdam, source and contact tracing is only being done to a limited extent due to the high number of infections and limited capacity at the GGD. "It is now waiting to see if we can quash the hotspot with that. Things are going fast now. And we are still in the warm months, but when the cold months come soon, people will go inside more and the risk of contamination becomes even greater."
