Stricter enforcement of Covid rules; one warning, then fine

The police and enforcement officers will be stricter in enforcing compliance to the coronavirus measures from now on, the security regions and Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus agreed in a meeting of the Security Council on Monday. Stricter enforcement will lead to more fines, but violators will get a warning first, NOS and ANP report.

Police and enforcers will start registering warnings, so that people can be fined from their second violation. Until now, enforcement mainly focused on excesses. Henceforth, extra attention will also be paid to group formation and violation of the ban on alcohol consumption in public after 8:00 p.m., said Huber Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen and head of the Security Council. 

"You don't want to listen? Then a fine. We are taking a step forward. Enforcers will now more quickly act against group. A national line will be created here," Bruls said. 

"We want more uniformity and unity in enforcement by the police and enforcers," Minister Grapperhaus said about a "national framework" for enforcement. This is needed to prevent regional differences, as sometimes arose over the past months, he said. "We need clarity in this partial lockdown."

The Netherlands was put in a partial lockdown last week as coronavirus infections in the country continue to rise. On Monday, public health institute RIVM reported 8,015 new infections - the eighth day in a row with over 8 thousand infections. Ernst Kuipers of the national network for acute care LNAZ reported that regular care has already been scaled down 20 percent to make more room for coronavirus care.