DUTCH senators approved a new law today to ease the country’s fight against surging coronavirus infections, opening the door to make wearing of masks compulsory.

Senators overwhelming voted in favour of temporary legislation giving Parliament more control in combatting Covid-19, until now done through emergency ordinances issued by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government.

The law in particular provides a legal basis to enforce wearing masks, something Dutch ministers said they wanted to implement as soon as possible.

Covering up with a mask has so far not been compulsory in The Netherlands, except on public transport and in indoor public spaces like municipal buildings, schools and hospitals.

The issue is controversial including with Dutch health officials, who questioned the usefulness of wearing non-medical masks.

First mooted in early summer, the law is set to come into force by December 1.

Praised earlier this year for its “intelligent lockdown”, The Netherlands went into a partial confinement two weeks ago as the country was hit by a second wave of the pandemic.

This included closing down all pubs, restaurants and cannabis cafes for at least four weeks and banning alcohol sales after 8pm at night.

The country has reported a total of 311,889 cases of coronavirus infection with 7,142 deaths. – AFP, October 27, 2020.