LIVE: Number of coronavirus infections lower than Sunday | 1Limburg

The latest news about the corona virus from Monday 19 October:

4:14 PM – Use of soft drugs can still be fined outside from 8:00 PM to 7:00 AM
It is already possible to act against the use of soft drugs in outdoor areas. No new laws or regulations are required for this. Ferd Grapperhaus has informed the Lower House of this. A ban between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. was one of the proposed measures to prevent the spread of the corona virus.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Corona Minister Hugo de Jonge announced the measure last week, along with a ban on alcohol consumption under the same conditions. The ban on alcohol is regulated by an emergency ordinance, but lawyers said that was not possible with soft drugs. This was contrary to the tolerance policy, the ministry itself also argued.

Grapperhaus has now announced that the ban is possible, and without an emergency ordinance. Possession of soft drugs is in fact already prohibited in the Netherlands, and therefore also their use. The tolerance policy only pertains to its sale. Someone who smokes weed or hash on the street can therefore already be held accountable or fined by the police.

The minister will talk to the presidents of the security regions later on Monday. On the agenda is, among other things, the intention to enforce the corona measures more strictly again, something that was announced in the press conference last week. The action against soft drug use in outdoor areas will also be discussed.

A majority of the House reacted irritated when the ban on soft drugs use seemed to be canceled, and supported a motion by SGP leader Kees van der Staaij to make it possible.

4:08 pm – Elderly man squirts pepper spray to keep five feet away
In the German city of Aachen, on the border with South Limburg, the police arrested a 71-year-old man who sprayed people with pepper spray in the face. In his own words, he did this to be able to maintain sufficient distance in connection with the corona regulations.

According to the police in Aachen, the elderly person first sprayed a group of joggers unannounced last Saturday and then immediately sprayed two passing cyclists in the face. Despite watery eyes, the 51-year-old man and his 49-year-old wife were able to get off their bikes and call the police without breaking a sweat. A German police patrol then addressed the elderly person about his behavior. In his own words, the man had no choice. Only then could he keep passers-by at “corona distance”.

Bad weather or not, the German justice has started a criminal investigation into the man.

4:05 pm – Limburg corona figures: 350 positive tests reported
Over the past 24 hours, 350 new positive corona tests have been reported in Limburg. On Sunday the counter was at 391. Furthermore, three hospital admissions were added and no new deaths were reported.

The Limburg GGDs report this.

In the municipality of Beesel, relatively most people are infected (96.42 infections per 100,000 inhabitants). With 76.46 infections per 100,000 inhabitants, the municipality of Mook en Middelaar comes in second. Venray had 66.51 infections per 100,000 inhabitants and Peel en Maas had 62.18 infections per 100,000 inhabitants. The number in Nederweert was 58.75 infections per 100,000 inhabitants.

If the absolute numbers are considered, most people in Venlo tested positive: 56. Also in Venray (29), Peel en Maas (27), Weert (24), Horst aan de Maas (23) and Heerlen (20) ) the numbers are increasing.

4:00 PM – VieCuri has nineteen corona patients in hospital
The VieCuri Medical Center, with offices in Venlo and Venray, has admitted nineteen corona patients. The hospital reports this on its website. Six of the nineteen patients are in Intensive Care. Three corona patients have died in the hospital since September 1. In recent weeks, twenty corona patients have recovered enough in the hospitals to be allowed to go home.

3:30 pm – Team staff member Wout Poels infected with corona
A Bahrain-McLaren staff member, Wout Poels’ team, has been infected with the corona virus. This was evident from the last test round that the organization of the Vuelta did on Sunday. A city member of Team Sunweb also turned out to be infected. They were both properly removed from the squad and quarantined. No rider tested positive: that means that all 176 riders on the start list can start the Vuelta tomorrow. Read more here.

2:46 pm – RIVM sees corona infections drop for the first time in five days
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reports that the corona virus was diagnosed in 8 015 people in the Netherlands between Sunday and Monday morning. That is the first time in five days that the number of infections is lower than the day before. On Sunday, RIVM counted 8184 positive tests in the previous 24 hours. The researchers have now adjusted that number to 8177.

The number of people who died from the coronavirus has increased by seventeen people. This does not mean that these 17 people died in the past 24 hours. This information is often passed on to RIVM with a delay.

12:55 pm – Still no city prince in Maastricht
City carnival association De Tempeleers is not proclaiming a city prince for the dead. At the end of August, the carnival association announced that it was looking in good spirits for a city prince who knew how to profile himself in this difficult time. But the decision of the Limburg security regions not to grant permits for events during the carnival days due to the roaming corona virus, messes up the plans of the Maastricht Tempeleers Association. Read more here.

12:40 pm – Corona figures in Belgium continue to increase strongly
Corona figures in Belgium continue to increase strongly. The average number of new infections in the week of 9 to 15 October was 7,876, an increase of 79 percent compared to the previous week. On two days, the number of reports exceeded 10,000 and an average of 30 Covid-19 patients died per day, reports the health institute Sciensano.

In Germany the number of new corona infections has fallen sharply. Over the past 24 hours, 4325 new corona infections were registered there. That is considerably less than on Sunday when the lung virus was diagnosed in 5587 Germans. For the second day in a row, the number of new infections has decreased significantly. This is evident from figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German equivalent of the RIVM.

12:15 PM – More restaurants are offering home meals
The number of eateries in Limburg that offer a delivery and / or take-away service during the partial lockdown has increased compared to the catering closure in the spring. “There are a little more”, says Christiaan Fijen, regional manager of the Koninklijke Horeca Nederland for South Limburg. “And they started delivering and collecting faster”, adds Christel Nabuurs of the North and Central Limburg region. Read more here.

11:30 am – People are still saving tickets for postponed events
Most people who have tickets to postponed events this fall will not ask for their money back. A spokesperson for the ‘Save your ticket, enjoy later’ scheme will inform ANP on Monday. In May, when the scheme had just started, this turned out to be the case. The exact figures for the number of people keeping their tickets are unknown. “It is of course a different situation from this spring, when many more events were postponed, than now,” said the initiative’s spokesman.

11:28 am – New measures in Belgium come into effect today
In Belgium, stricter corona rules will take effect from today. One of those rules is that cafes and restaurants must close for a month. Furthermore, there is a night clock between midnight and 5 a.m. The sale of alcohol is also prohibited after 8 p.m. Markets will remain open and small fairs with a maximum of 200 people will remain possible. Christmas markets and flea markets are prohibited. According to Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the measures are desperately needed, he says at the VRT. And it will be strictly enforced. That means: no warnings, but fines are issued immediately.

9:15 am – Mayors look ahead to holidays in Corona time
The mayors of the Security Council look ahead to the holidays tonight in their meeting. The administrators of the 25 safety regions will also discuss, among other things, doubts in the enforcement of the latest measures. Most measures are clear, explained a spokeswoman, but there are always points that are discussed. For example, it was previously not entirely clear whether the restaurants on golf courses should be classified under catering or sports canteens.

9:00 am – GGD had long doubts about the use of the CoronaMelder app
Even when the CoronaMelder app was almost finished, the GGD was not at all convinced of the usefulness of the app. The health service also warned against the haste the Ministry of Health had in its introduction, according to internal documents obtained by the NOS on the basis of the Government Information (Public Access) Act. The GGD was mainly afraid of the app ‘disruptive effect’ on the source and contact research. “The app must support and not disrupt the work of the GGD,” the GGD wrote on June 12.

8:50 am – Teachers want tougher corona measures in the classroom
The Teachers in Action Union (LIA) believes that the cabinet should introduce stricter measures to guarantee a safe working environment for teachers. More than 80 percent of teachers indicate in a recent LIA poll that they are seriously concerned about the work situation. Full classes make it difficult to keep a distance of 1.5 meters and students would be lax about the mandatory mouth masks advice.

Read the corona news from Sunday 18 October here.