Two cities centralized Covid QR checks, giving out wristbands to cafe visitors

The fact that people had to show a coronavirus admission ticket in more places from last weekend took some getting used to, but politicians said that it went very well in most places.The Cabinet is curious about a system set up last weekend in Breda. The Noord-Brabant city set up a number of access points where people could have their QR code’s scanned, after which they were given a wristband they could use to enter bars in a designated area. The Noord-Holland city of Alkmaar tested a similar approach using a waterproof stamp.

Four such checkpoints were set up in Breda. The checkpoint in Alkmaar will only be used on Friday and Saturday nights, according to NOS.

Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus will discuss the concept with the Security Council. The Council is made up of 25 mayors representing all Dutch cities in the country’s 25 security regions. Grapperhaus will meet on Tuesday with the Council, which is chaired by Nijmegen Mayor Hubert Bruls.

Health Minister Hugo de Jonge is curious about the experiences at a municipal level. He said a "meaningful step" was taken over the weekend, because the 1.5 meter social distancing rule was also abandoned with the introduction of the coronavirus access pass system. De Jonge praised entrepreneurs for mostly doing a good job with handling this, and he was also pleased with the mayors and municipal enforcement.

The main problem was an attack on the systems behind the CoronaCheck app, but according to the minister, few people were affected by this. The systems were deliberately overloaded as part of a cyberattack which meant some people could not create a new QR code.

The consequence of this was limited because the attack did not last long, about two hours in total starting at 8 p.m. on Saturday, De Jonge said. He also said many people had already created their code beforehand. He said it was a lovely weekend for "a lot of people".

If it turns out that the current coronavirus policy does not cause an increase in infections, further restrictions could be relaxed, according to the minister. The next evaluation of policy is planned for early November.