Vandenbroucke: Avoid catering establishments that are not responding to Corona measures

“If I go to a cafe where the passage of Corona is not taken seriously, I will go out again,” the minister said in an interview with Radio 1: And even more so: he prefers that not everyone visits such food establishments. When asked by the radio journalist whether these restaurants should be boycotted, the minister replied: “Absolutely.” “It is about safety. Your health is also my responsibility. Your well-being is also my responsibility. And my health is your responsibility too.

Vandenbroek hopes the police will keep a close eye on the Corona measures.

Horeka Flanden finds the minister’s call somewhat unfortunate because it gives the impression that the catering industry follows the procedures very little. And the catering industry is doing just that, the sector association tells VRT. Horeca Vlaanderen is particularly annoyed by tone of voice from the minister. “Serenity works best.”

Dancing without a mouth mask

Minister Vandenbroek also spoke on Radio 1 about nightclubs. He says that dancing without a mouth mask in discos is possible. The scheme under which self-tests could replace mouth masks in nightlife appears to be in jeopardy because a cooperation agreement between different governments is still required. This may take days.

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But according to Minister Vandenbroek, this is not the case. We will not wait for that. We are a complicated country and the legislation is always complicated, but the agreement is we won’t wait for that. As of today, there’s no need for a mouth mask at the disco, with a double stipulation: ‘You use the aura passage correctly, and you seriously check it out. The second condition is that you organize and verify the self-test. You only allow entry those who, in addition to passing the corona, can also prove that the self-test is negative.

However, the minister insists on caution. “We are in an explosion of the virus.” So he’s calling on people to be very careful, to avoid a lot of contact, to meet outside or to wear mouth masks, for example. Anyone going to an event of more than 50 people should make sure to use the Corona Card seriously. In the nightclub it is possible without a mask, but then a serious self-examination should be carried out in advance. “Otherwise you shouldn’t do that.”

Vandenbroucke also asks to be careful with private parties. Mouth mask is mandatory for private parties of 50 people. “If I were to organize a private party, I would also agree to take a self-examination, even if it was not an obligation.”

More stringent?

Frank Vandenbrooke is still worried. I hope these measures will suffice. But I think we can only avoid real lockdowns and lockdown measures if we follow that fully now and be incredibly careful on top of that.

“I cannot rule out stricter measures,” the minister said. It will depend on how well we implement and monitor these actions. The minister did not want to specify the numbers on which we should be tougher.

But I’m afraid we will continue to see an increase in admissions for some time, because infection numbers continue to rise. We see 17 to 18,000 infections every day: I’m afraid we won’t stop this train right away. What I want to see is that everyone will start working remotely from Monday: Talk to your boss about this as well. You can request this from your employer. The same is true in everyday life: be very careful.

Correction: The article initially stated that Vandenbrooke himself proposed a boycott of the catering industry (which does not follow procedures). He said “absolutely” only at the suggestion of the journalist who asked if the minister called for a boycott of these things.