“And by and large, the Dutch did so responsibly. Shopkeepers rearranged shelves and affixed construction-site tape to guide customers through the aisles so they could maintain safe distances. The number of people allowed in is controlled by limiting available shopping baskets, and employees at the door make sure everyone takes one. Most shoppers will stand aside to let another pass so they don’t come too close.”
“Maggie de Block, Belgium’s minister of public health, has been sharply critical of the Dutch approach. “They’re letting the virus run loose,” she told Brussels newspaper De Morgen. “It’s a dangerous approach.”The mitigation phase of the Dutch response to coronavirus largely worked when compared to its neighbors. The Netherlands, like much of Europe, was hit very hard early in the pandemic—but the country also had among the world’s briefest peaks in new cases.”
