Netherlands Now Going Into Hard Lockdown over Christmas

Netherlands
Image courtesy of Ernesto Velázquez from Pixabay
Avatar of Linda S. Hohnholz
Written by Linda S. Hohnholz

Omicron has caused a 25% increase in the rate of new cases in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In response, the government is closing everything down. Prime Minister Mark Rutte calls the restrictions “unavoidable.”

For Christmas get-togethers, unfortunately this means no more than 4 guests over the age of 13 per household from December 24-26 and on New Year’s Eve. Effective tomorrow, Sunday, December 19, 2021, the maximum number of household guests is 2.

PM Rutte said: “To sum it up in one sentence, the Netherlands will go back into lockdown from tomorrow. I stand here tonight in a somber mood. And a lot of people watching will feel that way, too.”

All school are now closed and will remain so until at least January 9, 2022. Other lockdown measures will remain in effect until at least January 14.

The new rules urge people to stay home. The Prime Minister said failure to act now would likely lead to “an unmanageable situation in hospitals.”

Despite curfews that were put in place on hospitality and cultural venues in the Netherlands over the past several weeks in an attempt to curtail the effects of Omicron, the highly contagious continues to spread like wildfire. There have been more than 2.9 million coronavirus cases have been reported in the country since the pandemic began with over 20,000 deaths.

Netherland officials are urging people to get vaccinated.

In Other European Countries

New measures are also being announced in France, Germany, and the Republic of Ireland to try to stave off the effects of Omicron.

France Prime Minister Jean Castex said the Omicron variant is “spreading at lightning speed.” In response, France has imposed strict travel restrictions on those entering from the United Kingdom – the hardest hit country in the region, with nearly 25,000 confirmed Omicron cases alone on Saturday.

The latest EU figures show that Europe has already seen more than 89 million cases and 1.5 million COVID-related deaths.

As of today, there have been 271,963,258 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,331,019 deaths, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

#omicron

#netherlands

About the author

Avatar of Linda S. Hohnholz

Linda S. Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz has been an editor for eTurboNews for many years. She is in charge of all premium content and press releases.

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