Netherlands willing to contribute €1 billion to EU coronavirus fund no strings attached

The Dutch government is willing to contribute up to 1 billion euros to a yet-to-be-established European fund aimed at dealing with the coronavirus, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance said. Countries hit hard by Covid-19 and that are not in good financial health can turn to the fund to finance medical aid. "I am thinking roughly of a few hundred million to 1 billion euros," Hoekstra said to NU.nl on Wednesday.

The Finance Minister stressed that this is not a loan, but a gift, and the Netherlands' "substantial contribution to public health in Europe". Countries who call on this fund must clearly need help, Hoekstra said. Figuring out exactly how the control and release of the funds will work, and the conditions attached, is the next step, he said.

Unlike the still contested European Stability Mechanism (ESM), contribution to this fund is not mandatory for EU Member States. The member states are free to decide if and how much they want to contribute. According to Hoekstra, there is "broad enthusiasm" among his European colleagues for this fund.

Hoekstra stressed that the Netherlands is and will remain vehemently against so-called coronabonds, where the funds raised from selling such bond instruments would be used to help all member states overcome economic hurdles during the ongoing health crisis. The money could then be invested in supporting any EU member state, while repayment obligations would be the responsibility of the entire EU. Italy and Spain, both very hard hit by the coronavirus, insist on such bonds, the Netherlands and other countries including Germany, France and Belgium are against it.

The Dutch resistance to coronabonds resulted in fierce criticism from Italy. Especially after Hoekstra said that countries should first pull out all the stops to recover from the economic downturn themselves.

This statement prompted indignation, given that the Netherlands has far less public debt than Italy and therefore has much more financial room.

Read more: Netherlands willing to contribute €1 billion to EU coronavirus fund | NL Times

Coronavirus and the Florida Tourist Industry: Holland America ships dock in Florida, debarkation plan - "following considerable diplomatic pressure" - by Morgan Hines and Jayme Deerwester

The Holland America Line "Zaandam"

After finally reaching a deal with authorities, Holland America was allowed to dock two of its ships at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday.

Port Everglades traffic records confirmed the arrival of MS Zaandam and sister ship MS Rotterdam after 5 p.m. local time.

Photos showed critically ill people being transferred from the Zaandam to waiting ambulances. The sick and local residents are the only ones leaving Port Everglades on Thursday, a Holland America document outlining the disembarkation plan showed.

The Zaandam and the Rotterdam, which rendezvoused last week, were both given permission to disembark passengers at Port Everglades after days of negotiation with local officials who feared it would divert needed resources from a region that has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases.

"We were made privy of the details yesterday, and we’re hopeful that this new protocol that they’ve agreed to will sufficiently insulate our people in Fort Lauderdale at risk of (contracting) the disease," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told USA TODAY earlier on Thursday.

The remains of four elderly passengers who died on the Zaandam were also scheduled for removal Thursday evening.  Two of the four deaths on board the Zaandam have been blamed on COVID-19, and nine people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the cruise line said.

Between the Zaandam and Rotterdam a total of 107 passengers and 143 crew members have presented flu-like symptoms since March 22, according to a Holland America statement provided by spokesperson Sally Andrews.

In a Thursday statement, Holland America expressed relief that a deal had finally been struck, ending the ships' saga, which began in mid-March when Chile denied the MS Zaandam permission to end the cruise there.

“These travelers could have been any one of us or our families, unexpectedly caught in the middle of this unprecedented closure of global borders that happened in a matter of days and without warning,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line.

Ashford continued, "We are so happy to be able to get our guests home and assist those few who need additional medical services. The COVID-19 situation is one of the most urgent tests of our shared humanity, and we must do everything we can to ensure we continue to act in ways consistent with our common human dignity."

The ships are carrying 311 Americans and 52 Florida residents, with the largest numbers coming  from Canada, the EU, and and several other non-us countries.

Note EU-Digest: "Informed sources reported that there was a lot of diplomatic pressure  put on the Florida Governor by the Netherlands Government  (home port of the two ships), and Governments of other countries, which had passengers on board  the Zaandam and the Rotterdam. Apparently even President Trump was involved at one point, in the decision to let the passengers disembark in Fort Lauderdale. Not allowing the passengers disembark in Fort Lauderdale would have caused irreparable damage to the image of the Florida Tourist and cruise industry".

Read more: Coronavirus: Holland America ships dock in Florida, debarkation plan

The future of work in the post-Covid-19 digital era – by Maria Mexi

On-line work: The coronavirus crisis has spurred the growth of online work. The genie is not going back in the bottle and we must plan for a future of ‘decent digiwork’.
 
Read more at:
https://www.socialeurope.eu/the-future-of-work-in-the-post-covid-19-digital-era

Stock market today: Dow drops 400 points as stocks close out their worst first quarter ever

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 410.32 points lower, or 1.8%, at 21,917.16. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6% to 2,584.59. The Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 1% to 7,700.10. The 30-stock benchmark was up as much as 152 points earlier in the day.



The
Dow and S&P 500 had their worst first-quarter performances ever,
losing 23.2 and 20%, respectively. The Dow also had its worst overall
quarter since 1987 while the S&P 500 had its biggest quarterly loss
since 2008.

Read more at: Stock market today: Dow drops 400 points as stocks close out their worst first quarter ever

The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least

Special measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands are to be extended until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday. This means cafes, restaurants, museums and schools will remain shut for the next four weeks. The decision has been taken on the basis of expert advice, the prime minister said. ‘We realise we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,’ Rutte said. ‘The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves us with no other choice.’ ‘The good news is that we don’t have to bring in extra measures,’ the prime minister said. Measures currently in

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

Special measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands are to be extended until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday. This means cafes, restaurants, museums and schools will remain shut for the next four weeks.

The decision has been taken on the basis of expert advice, the prime minister said. ‘We realize we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,’ Rutte said. ‘The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves us with no other choice.’ ‘The good news is that we don’t have to bring in extra measures,’ the prime minister said.

Measures currently in  effect, these measure means that schools will be closed until May 3, because the May school holidays start on April 25. Parents considering booking a holiday during the Easter or May break should not do so, the prime minister said.

‘There is a very real chance that we will have to extend the measures past April 28,’ Rutte said. ‘We don’t want people to travel all over the country, and after April 28 we certainly won’t be back the way we were.’ All sports events, including premier league football, are also cancelled until at least June 1, the current deadline for the ban on organized events.

Read more at: The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least - DutchNews.nl

The Netherlands - US Relations: Florida governor: sick passengers on cruise ship cannot be 'dumped' here "as a result Fort Lauderdale could be branded world-wide as an inhumane tourist destination"

The Florida Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has said passengers on a coronavirus-stricken cruise trip cannot be “dumped” in his state, casting further doubt over where two vessels carrying hundreds of people will be a two vessels carrying hundreds of people will be allowed to dock.

Two people have tested positive for the disease and dozens are ill with flu-like symptoms on the Zaandam luxury cruise liner, which has not been able to dock after several Latin American countries closed their ports in response to the global pandemic.

Hundreds of North American, Australia, Dutch and British citizens are in isolation in their rooms and a boat-to-boat operation is underway to move some healthy travellers to a sister ship, the Rotterdam, over the weekend.

But there are fears that sick, elderly passengers and crew members will be left stranded at sea during a global pandemic, with some on board isolating in small, humid cabins with no natural light or fresh air.
Holland America Line, which owns the cruise ship, confirmed on Friday that four elderly passengers had died onboard. It is not clear whether they died after catching Covid-19.

“Unfortunately, four of our fellow guests have passed away – one last night, two yesterday and one a few days ago,” the ship’s captain Captain Jan Smit said in an announcement, which was obtained by The Guardian. “We are still seeing both guests and crew with symptoms reporting to the medical center. The situation continues to grow more challenging each day.”

Both ships are presently on their way to Fort Lauderdale.

Note EU-Digest: Both Ships - the Zaandam and the Rotterdam use Fort Lauderdale as their cruise base and all passengers on the ships boarded in Fort Lauderdale before any US travel restriction were issued. 

Florida  Governor Ron DeSantis better realize that if he does not allow all passengers of these cruise ships to disembark in Fort Lauderdale, so they can be properly taken care of and treated, that Florida will be branded around the world as an inhumane tourist destination.  

EU-Digest

The Netherlands - Coroanvirus: Holland recalls 600,000 masks imported from China

The Dutch Ministry of Health said on Saturday that it asked hospitals to return 600,000 face masks after they failed to meet safety requirements.

Read more at: 
https://www.businessinsider.com/coroanvirus-holland-recalls-over-half-a-million-masks-imported-from-china-2020-3