For the past few weeks, the municipalities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam ran an experiment, making face masks mandatory in busy areas. They have now decided to discontinue this trial.
The experiment has been running for almost a month– since August 5– and will continue until next Monday. In Rotterdam the busy areas, where a face mask is mandatory until Monday, are Visserijplein, Afrikaanderplein and Binnenrotte and the indoor shopping centers Zuidplein and Alexandrium. In Amsterdam, the areas are the Red Light District, Kalverstraat, Nieuwendijk and in the markets on Plein ’40 -’45 and Albert Cuypstraat.
The measure only applies to people over the age of 13, and not in places where there were already other coronavirus regulations in place, such as in gyms or cafes. A fine of €95 is the penalty for not wearing the face mask in the required areas.
The experiment will be evaluated by the Netherlands Study Center for Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), and the results should be available next month, NU.nl reports. The experiment looked at whether wearing a face mask in busy areas would encourage people to keep to the 1.5m rule more often.
How do you feel about this experiment being over? Let us know in the comments below.
Feature Image: DutchReview/Canva
I reckon they brutally failed this whole experiment because they set the preconditions and hypothesis wrong. The rules are still confusing people and they just took the mask on and off at their own convenience. I am still not sure what the municipalities are trying to achieve. Is it “wearing a face mask effective at all to prevent the spread of the virus” or “let’s see if the number of infection is getting low because now “some” people start wearing a mask.” This virus is no joke and easily contagious. So wearing it on and off anytime won’t work outside. Either you must wear it or not at all. Look at what other countries that are doing well. The Dutch government is too optimistic about their people and their characters.
And guess what, even the police officers, NS & metro employees or other employees at Schiphol don’t wear a mask. And how do you expect this experiment would work when these high-risk front-line people are not respecting their own rules?
I found the term used in the article “experiment” quite revealing.