Mayors pleased with Cabinet's shift to keeping society open

Hubert Bruls, mayor of Nijmegen and chairman of the Security Council, is happy with the Cabinet's shift to keeping society open instead of looking solely at healthcare interests when making coronavirus policy. "We have been arguing for some time to take more account of the psychological, social, and economic aspects," he said to NOS.

As far as the mayors on the Security Council are concerned, this step should've been taken some time ago. "In January, it was already clear that the Omicron Variant makes people less sick," Bruls said. "The Cabinet should've relaxed measures earlier because it can no longer be sustained."

Bruls added that it is unclear what the Cabinet will do. That will only become clear at the press conference next week. He hopes they'll at least scrap the 10:00 p.m. closing time for the catering industry because there are no good arguments for that measure, he said. He thinks social distancing should be maintained to keep pressure off the healthcare system. 

Nightclubs plan to open this weekend in protest against the continuing restrictions. The events sector also said they plan to open on March 11 and hope the Cabinet will take steps to make this possible.