Anti-COVID restrictions eased in the Netherlands | News from Germany about Europe

The Netherlands is partially easing the tight restrictions imposed at the end of 2021 in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. As Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced, from Wednesday, January 26, restaurants, bars, theaters, museums and cinemas will reopen in the kingdom. Thus, the government of the country reacted to the “significant tension” that the restrictive measures caused in the field of culture and the restaurant business.

Rutte called the easing of restrictions an “important step”, noting, however, that in the context of the continued high incidence of COVID-19, the authorities are taking certain risks. In recent days, 50-60 thousand new infections have been detected daily in the kingdom.

Protests against anti-COVID measures

Against the backdrop of the spread of an extremely contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus, the Dutch government introduced another general lockdown on December 19 – all shops were closed except for those selling essential goods, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and theaters. Shops, fitness studios, hairdressers and sex shops were allowed to open again on January 15, but bars, restaurants, cafes and cultural institutions remained closed. This caused dissatisfaction among the inhabitants of the country, and protest actions were held in a number of cities.

Dozens of museums and concert halls in the Netherlands turned into hairdressers and gyms on January 19. The organizers of the symbolic one-time action decided in this way to draw attention to the incomprehensible, in their opinion, closures of institutions in the cultural sphere.

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Author: Sergey Gushcha, Thomas Lachan