New Delhi (NVI): The Netherlands announced a new five-week nationwide lockdown that will cover Christmas and extend till January, in a effort to curb rising COVID-19 cases.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte made the announcement in a televised speech saying the country will go into a strict lockdown for five weeks, from December 15 to January 19.
Under the tough new lockdown measures, all schools, non-essential businesses in Netherland like movie theaters and salon, and many other public venues and spaces will remain close till January 19. Also, citizens have been advised to refrain from booking non-essential travel abroad until mid-March.
The government also said that restrictions will be eased slightly for the three days of Christmas, when Dutch households are allowed three instead of two guests, not counting children under 13.
“We need to bite this very sour apple before things get better. And yes they will get better. There will come a time when coronavirus will be behind us, when our lives will be normal again,” Rutte said in a televised address to the nation.
He added that, “It won’t be now, or in a week, or a month. But with the vaccine, 2021 will indeed be a year of hope and of light at the end of the tunnel.”
Since mid-October, bars and restaurants have been closed, although many restaurants, cafes and coffeeshops have offered takeout sales. The partial lockdown initially slowed high infection rates in the country, but they have been rising again in recent days.
In addition, this announcement of new lockdown comes amid concern at the surge in infections in Netherland, recently seeing some 10,000 COVID-19 cases recorded in a single day.
So far, the pandemic has killed more than 10,100 people in the Netherlands, while the tally of confirmed patients since the start of the outbreak stands at 6,32,085, the John Hopkins University data shows.
-RJV
