The Dutch government is at a bit of a crossroads at the moment. I use the metaphor deliberately.

The navigation system in my car warns me of traffic congestion ahead and plans an alternative route, often adding distance and time to my journey. When it is a route I often use, I take on board the traffic bulletins issued on the radio and use my knowledge of the various routes available to me to decide if I want to deviate from my normal route or not. Quite often I decide not to, and I find that it is quite possible to follow my original course without undue delays.

In July, the government issued its white paper on an emergency bill to enshrine anti-corona measures into (temporary) law. Nearly three months later – a delay partly caused by the parliamentary summer recess – the bill has been passed by the lower house and is awaiting its introduction in the upper house. The second chamber seems at first sight in no hurry to rush this onto the agenda, but I am beginning to think that there may well be wisdom in this.

An urgent letter signed by around 1.000 of the 75.000 Dutch GPs urges the government to reconsider the whole question of emergency powers. They do so based on a critical stance towards the measures already in use, but their argument against putting them into law are compelling.

When you consider that the government were considering these powers in months 3 and 4 of the pandemic, and we are now 3 or 4 months further, there is certainly cause to wonder if the necessity for emergency powers – as set out in the bill – has not changed a little in the meantime.

It is one thing to urge people to observe social distancing and the other measures set out in the current official advice, and leading by example; it is another to wrap the package in an emergency powers act in an attempt to mandate certain measures.

Such a bill should really only allow a government to deviate from economic plans, for example, and then only with the support of parliament. That kind of framework can be necessary inasmuch as current legislation doesn’t allow for it.

The letter from those GPs is also somewhat dated, to be honest. It was not written in the last week or so, which has seen rates of infection rising significantly again. It also mentioned that the highest mortality was among 80-plussers, as if that group were expendable. An unfortunate mix of information entirely. It also ignores the long-term effects on patients that have recovered from Covid-19. Some have found that their daily lives have been restricted by chronic tiredness and breathing pronlems.

It is a pandemic we are talking about. The Netherlands is not an island, and the struggle to contain corona is a worldwide effort. It is not only about shielding the Dutch health care system from undue strain, although that is important too. It is not about comparing numbers with ebola or the flu either.

Two recent events provide graphic examples of why we need common sense measures. The first I wrote about in my previous post – the football gathering in Tilburg which seems to be resulting in a sharp increase in positive test results. The other is the news that President Trump himself has Covid-19, partly, it would seem, as a result of not taking measures like social distancing seriously enough himself. Just look at the pictures of the presentation of the candidate High Court judge in the Rose Garden at the White House. The seats were not spaced according to distancing guidelines! We also read that Trump went on a couple of plane trips and had undistanced meetings with advisors even after having being in contact with people subsequently tested and found positive.

We need the measures based on distancing and masks, I am convinced of that. Restricting the size of gatherings and reducing licensing hours to curtail alcohol-influenced breaches of these common-sense rules are prudent. The should not be based solely on science, where interpretation is not always consistent. We have to consider this country in the context of Europe and the rest of the world too. We do not say to those above a certain age: you were going to go sometime and corona will possibly just shorten that wait.

Legal powers, however, need to be invoked with great restraint. “Act in haste, repent at leisure.”