There is only one authority to which the ministers can turn for questions that concern public health. They are therefore behind it (at least to the outside world). If the RIVM takes the one and a half meter rule seriously, only one advice can be expected:
"Amsterdam has to go into lockdown for two weeks."
If that is not necessary now, after having seen 5000 men packed together, then there is really something wrong with this rule. They can hardly bet that not one of the 5000 people present was infected.
Suppose that in a week or two nothing turns out to be wrong in the capital and the surrounding area, what does that mean for the entrepreneurs who have seen their turnover decimate because they do follow the rules? For the BOAs who have been handing out fines? For the citizens who have paid fines?
The RIVM judgment "Amsterdam must be in lockdown for two weeks" can offer an escape because if nothing happens by then, at least "an outbreak has been prevented thanks to the lockdown".
Without a lockdown, an outbreak almost MUST occur, at least if we try to understand what is behind the guidelines. According to the RIVM, face masks are only effective in public transport and their one and a half meters was not respected. Hands were not washed and how the sanitary facilities were arranged while 350 people were counted on I can only guess.
It is a nice paradox: only a corona outbreak can save RIVM from this. I am already satisfied with a small Amsterdam corona wave within two weeks. At least then it hasn't all been completely in vain.
