Netherlands extends night lockdown and advances school holidays

The Dutch Government announced this Tuesday that the current “night lockdown”, whereby all non-essential activity closes at 5:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. GMT), will be extended until January 14, and the closure for holidays will be brought forward one week from Primary schools due to the threat of the omicron variant.

Acting Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at a press conference that the extension of the current restrictions is “inevitable” during Christmas and the two weeks after the new year, so anyone who offers a non-essential service, including hotels, shops and gyms, must close from 5:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. (04:00 GMT).

Additionally, the maximum number of guests to a home is limited to four people over the age of 13 per day, and no exceptions to this rule will apply for Christmas or New Year’s Eve family gatherings.

Primary schools will bring up the Christmas holidays, so they will close from next Monday, and will not reopen their doors until January 10, although they will not be obliged to offer virtual education to children during that time.

Along with these restrictions, the mandatory use of the COVID pass is also maintained in the catering industry, theaters, concert halls, museums, gyms and cinemas, although this document continues to include people who are not vaccinated but test negative in a test, in addition to those vaccinated and recovered from COVID-19.

Rutte pointed out that the two reasons for extending the restrictions announced three weeks ago are the high numbers of daily infections, which, despite having decreased since the “night confinement” came into force, are still “very high”, and the The threat of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 could reverse that downward trend.

He urged to resort to self-tests before making visits to a house, especially if it is to the elderly, and to respect measures to avoid contagion, which includes keeping distance, not shaking hands, maintaining good ventilation and isolating yourself at home if symptoms of COVID-19 are shown.

“As long as hospitals are full and regular treatments and surgeries are postponed, we must continue to fight the virus. In addition, there are reasons for concern and caution due to the new omicron variant. It is expected to replace the delta variant in the coming weeks, “said the Dutch executive.

The Institute of Public Health (RIVM) has so far counted a total of 123 infections with the new variant, including 18 cases that arrived two weeks ago on two flights from South Africa.

Regarding the vaccination campaign, the Dutch Government announced that all people over 18 years of age will have the option of receiving a booster dose from the second half of January. This injection would be given after at least three months, instead of six, after the last dose or the coronavirus infection.

In the Netherlands, 116,447 positive tests were documented in the last seven days, 21% less than the previous week, while 2,764 patients are hospitalized with covid-19, of which 654 are in intensive care units, according to figures published today by the RIVM.