The police have been given powers to intervene if people fail to keep one and a half metres apart. Fines will be imposed on anyone who does not comply with the rules. Gatherings are banned and shops may not admit too many customers at the same time.
But what about education? In principle, the measures applied until 6 April: will these also be extended until 1 June? The government had no answer to that yesterday. RIVM will issue advice by 6 April.
That leaves universities and universities of applied science wondering: what now? May students and lecturers meet after 6 April, even though this is not permitted outside education? The websites have not yet been updated. Most of them still give the old date, also the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) website.
Distance
There are exceptions though. Radboud University Nijmegen immediately updated its information. Other institutions, like Maastricht University and Leiden University, had already decided that they would continue remote learning for the rest of the academic year.
The new measures affect all kinds of gatherings, such as thesis defence meetings. These must now all be conducted online or postponed. The universities will have to make their own decisions, says the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU).
The same obviously applies to meetings planned by universities of applied sciences. From leaving receptions to inaugural speeches, everything is up in the air. This week, the universities of applied sciences will be discussing what the new date means for them, says their umbrella organisation.
