The Netherlands is heading for severe corona restrictions. On Monday there will be an early crisis meeting and an extra cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Corona Minister Hugo de Jonge will probably announce additional measures on Monday evening, instead of the usual Tuesday.
This shows the urgency at the cabinet, after the contamination figures rose again last weekend. On Sunday, almost 10,000 new positive tests were added, on Saturday there were 9164. The number of hospital admissions continues to rise.
In order to really bring about a change in this growth, the cabinet cannot do anything but take hard action. The “partial lockdown”, which has been in effect since mid-October, seems to have worn off for several weeks. After an initial decline, contamination figures have been on the rise for a while. An extra package of two weeks, in which museums, swimming pools, cinemas and amusement parks were closed, hardly resulted in an additional contraction in contamination figures in November.
Christmas days
Rutte repeated during last week’s press conference and the corona debate that new curtailments will not affect Christmas. The three guests that families are allowed to receive at home will remain, the prime minister said. Still, it cannot be ruled out that the prime minister will request further restrictions on visits on Monday evening, or that people “urgently advise” to stay at home. Old and New are also in jeopardy. The cabinet is considering a curfew to prevent parties in the home atmosphere and fireworks nuisance.
The cabinet also discussed other drastic restrictions at the Catshuis on Sunday. For example, the closure of non-essential stores is on the table. Members of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) think the crowds during Black Friday have played a role in the current increase. With Christmas just around the corner, it is unlikely that the shopping streets will quieter without coercion in the coming weeks. On Sunday, The Hague and Rotterdam made new calls not to come to the city centers, because it was too busy there with shoppers.
The cabinet also discussed the closure of the schools, in the form of one or more extra weeks of homeschooling after the Christmas holidays. Until now, the cabinet wanted to keep the schools open for as long as possible, in order to prevent learning disadvantages and so that parents do not have to take time off to look after the children. The latter may now be an argument in favor of school closure. Employees are still much less likely to stay at home than in the first wave. When schools close, people are more homebound.
Neighboring countries
The lockdown that Chancellor Angela Merkel announced in Germany on Sunday, while the contamination figures are relatively lower than in the Netherlands, will strengthen the government’s belief that drastic measures are needed. Rutte keeps a close eye on what is happening in neighboring countries. Moreover, there is a risk that Germans will cross the border to do Christmas shopping in the Netherlands, if the shops here remain open.
The new measures will be the first curtailments taken under the new corona law. The cabinet will probably immediately circumvent the procedure as laid down in the law. The House of Representatives is given a week by law to vote down the measures. It is not possible to adapt or partially agree to plans.
The Minister of Health can override this parliamentary control if there is an imminent threat to public health. During a debate on the corona law, Minister De Jonge said that he is prepared to take that step if necessary. Given the rush that the cabinet is in to announce new restrictions, it is not likely that it will wait a week for the new measures to take effect. The question is whether the opposition is sorry about this. PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher and SP party chairman Lilian Marijnissen call on the cabinet not to delay taking action.
Also read:
The culprit in the corona pandemic? You don’t hear about it anymore in China
The drama that took place in Wuhan a year ago is contained in a clever piece of propaganda. Correspondent Eefje Rammeloo saw how Wuhanese indulge in collective but selective memories at an exhibition about that time. A year after the virus outbreak started, no one is talking about cause or fault.
The cabinet prefers not to make these choices, but they will probably be discussed in the Catshuis today
Still fewer guests at Christmas, shops and schools closed or even completely in lockdown? An overview of annoying measures that the cabinet may consider necessary.
