Coronavirus in the Netherlands
Threat to humanity or fear of the unknown?
On 28 January 2020, Thierry Baudet, a Dutch politician, asked for an urgent debate in parliament on how to deal with the coronavirus. His request was refused; the government was of the opinion that an emergency debate was not necessary at this time. In the meantime, no direct measures were taken to prevent the spread of the virus. On 12 March 2020, the government took measures, but not enough according to the majority in parliament, which led to a debate. Eventually, on 16 March 2020, the government took drastic measures after a debate in parliament. This caused a lot of commotion among the population and the majority in parliament about the fact that measures were not taken sooner.
A number of measures have been taken in the Netherlands, including the closure of schools until 6 April. Also all eating and drinking places are closed. Sports and fitness clubs, saunas, sex clubs and coffee shops are closed from Sunday 15 March until Monday 6 April. Meetings with more than 100 people are cancelled throughout the Netherlands. This also applies to public locations such as museums, concert halls, theatres, sports clubs and sports competitions.
Everyone in the Netherlands is asked to keep a distance of 1.5 metres from each other wherever possible. This also applies to grocery shopping, for example.
However, these measures are not perceived as sufficient by part of the population. The number of deaths in the Netherlands caused by the virus has risen from 8 to 20. People want more measures. The country has to be in a lockdown, like France and Spain. People are afraid of the virus. The shops are almost empty. Prime Minister Rutte asked the population not to panic and not to load too much stock in the house. Yet nobody answers. Most are afraid to leave the house.
Yet there are also people who strongly believe that the coronavirus is now being used a lot for political purposes. Too many liberties are granted by the population for a virus about which there is not much clarity and where the number of deaths compared to other diseases is not that high. It is not that bad. The media makes people very scared and makes them panic for the unknown. The news only talks about the coronavirus and nothing else. The virus has become a very useful tool for the establishment, since there is no more talk about their failed policy in recent years. There is no more talk about the yellow vests in France, about the farmer protests in the Netherlands, about the nitrogen crisis and about the ever growing EU. Everything seems to have disappeared like snow in the sun. The establishment now has to say it again. Robert Jensen, presenter of the Jensen show, is of the opinion that Hanry Kissinger's statement is very applicable to what has happened to the Netherlands. These are Hanry Kissinger's words: 'Today Americans would be outraged if the U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful! This is especially true if they were told there was an outside threat from beyond whether real or promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is then that all peoples of the world will pledge with the world leaders to deliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears is the unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rights will be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their well being granted to them by their world government.
These are the different opinions about the possible future lockdown of the Netherlands. Everyone hopes it will blow away soon, but the critical thinkers are of the opinion that this is only the beginning.
Written by Monica Yelinyan