The almost empty Dam Square in the center of Amsterdam in December 2020
Picture: dpa
The Dutch government announced new corona measures. Starting Saturday, restaurants and certain shops will have to close in the evening, and the number of people you can meet will be limited.
DDue to the sharp increase in the number of infections, the Netherlands once again restricted some public life. This was announced by Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague on Friday night. Starting on Saturday, restaurants and supermarkets must close at 8 pm, and other stores must close at 6 pm. The 1.5-meter distance rule will be reintroduced, and citizens should invite up to four people into private homes. Sports events should be held without spectators. These restrictions should apply for three weeks initially.
Cinemas and theaters are excluded from closure. Tourists only need to prove that they have been vaccinated, tested or recovered as before. The country did not relax most of the regulations until the end of September.
On Thursday, there were 16,300 new infections in the country within 24 hours, a record high since the outbreak. coronavirus record. The previous 13,000 records were from December. Compared with other EU countries, hospitals with a proportional reduction in the number of intensive care beds have warned that they may be overloaded. In the Netherlands, 82% of residents over the age of 12 have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, one of the countries with the highest rate in the European Union. The intensive vaccination schedule will start in December.
