By Anthony Deutsch and Toby Sterling
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch government on Wednesday reversed course on its long-held position against wearing face masks in public places, as new coronavirus cases hit record highs and a parliamentary majority appealed for decisive action.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged citizens to wear face masks in public places when social distancing is impossible in order to help slow the spread of COVID-19 infections.
“What we wish to do is give the whole of the Netherlands some clear, urgent advice: from now on, wear a non-medical mouth-and-nose mask in public spaces,” Rutte said during a debate in parliament.
That marked a major policy shift after Rutte and the top medical expert had argued for months against masks’ usefulness in preventing COVID-19 transmission, recently prompting a rebuke from leading U.S. expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Dutch television.
On Wednesday, a majority of political parties in parliament said for the first time that Rutte’s government should recommend voluntary wearing of masks, during a debate on what to do after the country’s pandemic second wave saw infections hit records above 3,000 new cases per day this week.
“In view of the situation we are in, having lost control of the virus, we think this is a necessary measure,” said MP Lilian Marijnissen of the Socialist Party. “We don’t have time for consensus-building.”
A new law would be needed to make mask-wearing compulsory in public places because the measure infringes on constitutional freedoms. It was unclear how long that might take.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling and Anthony Deutsch; Additional reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Gareth Jones and Catherine Evans)
