Cabinet removes interventions from coronavirus law: schools will not just close

After June 1, schools, childcare and contact professions such as hairdressers can no longer be suddenly limited or closed, if the coronavirus flares up again. The Cabinet takes these stipulations from the so-called Temporary Covid-19 Measures Act (Twm), care minister Ernst Kuipers wrote to the Tweede Kamer.

A maximum group size at locations and restrictions for hotels and holiday parks will also be removed from the Cabinet's "toolbox" in three months' time. These measures cannot therefore simply be announced in a press conference. If the Cabinet later finds these coronavirus measures necessary, a new bill must first be drawn up, which must be approved by both the Eerste and Tweede Kamer.

Some provisions have already been deleted and the further reduction of the Twm will take place on June 1, when the sixth extension starts. The temporary law was introduced to give the first emergency legislation and decisions a legal basis, in which the parliament was given a greater role.

There are still many coronavirus measures that can be implemented quickly. This concerns, among other things, maintaining a safe distance, the use of the coronavirus admission ticket, the restriction or closure of events, the hospitality industry or public places, and rules for healthcare institutions and travelers.

The Tweede Kamer will meet on Monday about the fifth extension of the Twm, which has already come into effect. The Cabinet has been working for some time on a strategy for how to contain Covid-19 in the long term. Several scenarios have been devised for this. The starting point is to keep society as open as possible.

Sectors are also being asked to contribute ideas about how to tackle a possible next pandemic. The government does not rule out the possibility that sectors will still have to be closed in the worst possible scenario.