The Netherlands is backing down. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Friday November 12 the reintroduction of partial containment to deal with a record number of Covid-19 cases. Starting Saturday night, and for at least three weeks, bars, restaurants and essential stores such as supermarkets will have to close at 8 p.m. and non-essential stores at 6 p.m.
Dutch citizens are called upon not to accommodate more than four people in their homes and to telework, “unless it is really not possible”, detailed Mark Rutte. Public protests are cut and football matches will be played behind closed doors, including the World Cup qualifier between the Netherlands and Norway next week. However, schools remain open and outings outside the home authorized.
Mark Rutte called this new series of measures “big blow of a few weeks, because the virus is everywhere, all over the country, in all sectors and at all ages”. At the end of this period of at least three weeks, access to dining and leisure facilities will be restricted only to people vaccinated or cured of Covid.
The new restrictions are politically sensitive, with thousands demonstrating in The Hague on Sunday after the government announced the reintroduction of masks in some public spaces. Demonstrators protested, again in The Hague on Friday, when the measures were announced.
The Netherlands announced 16,364 new cases of Covid in the past 24 hours on Thursday, breaking the previous record of 12,997 cases set in December 2020. Hospitals have warned they will not be able to pass the winter under current conditions.
The peak of Covid comes despite the fact that 82% of Dutch people over the age of 12 have been fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated people account for most intensive care cases (69%) and hospital admissions (55%), but declining vaccine effectiveness, especially in the elderly, was also implicated. The Dutch government has announced that the vaccine booster campaign will start in December.