RIVM analysis: opening hospitality businesses leads to fewer infections!
Hospitality business owners have been angry for some time about the uncertainty surrounding the reopening of restaurants and cafés. Open for Christmas, not open, extra support? And why is all hospitality closed (apart from hotels, that is) while we see busy shopping streets? Good question, especially now that it appears the hospitality industry is not a major source of infection at all!
Last week, the hospitality industry in Brabant set its own ultimatum to open on 17 January and stop waiting for the government’s green light. And there is a good chance that more and more hospitality business owners plan to join them now that it appears opening restaurants will cause the number of coronavirus infections to fall rather than rise! This is stated in an analysis of the RIVM’s coronavirus figures, prepared by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK), which RTL Nieuws’s political editorial team has seen.
The so-called R value
The analysis states that several measures were introduced on 14 October. The reproduction number (the R value, the average number of people infected by someone with coronavirus) was 1.08 at the time. After those measures, the R value fell to 0.82. But on 13 November, the R value appears to have risen to 1.04.
This is the source of infection
The ministers conclude from this that ‘with the hospitality industry closed, the R number rises again somewhat, suggesting that the influence of the hospitality industry on the R number is very small and that the decline and rise since 14 October must be explained differently’. The analysis then states that visits at home from family, friends and acquaintances are currently an important source of infection. So Rutte and Co., what do you say: let’s get back to sitting safely in hospitality venues soon. I honestly don’t know a safer place.
Read also:
- The hospitality industry is ANGRY and is heading to the Malieveld in The Hague
- What a shame! These star chefs are closing their doors for Christmas
- Inside story: hospitality business owner on what it is like to run a restaurant during coronavirus
Source: Snackkoerier
