The Netherlands announces the nationwide closure at night and the extension of the health pass

12/11/2021 – 21:06 Updated: 11/12/2021 – 21:10

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The Government of the Netherlands announced this Friday the night closing of the country, with a validity of three weeks that will force bars and shops to close at 8:00 p.m. (local time), and an expansion of the sites where it will be necessary to present the health pass to gain access.

The first Minister, Mark Rutte, has announced in a press conference the “unpleasant decisions” that the Administration has had to take to face the spike in infections, so the measures are “unavoidable”, since “the virus is everywhere”. This has caused, for its part, “that the pressure on health care is again extremely high“.

“Operations sometimes have to be postponed, sometimes for the second or third time“, lamented the ‘premier’. For his part, the Minister of Health, Hugo De Jonge, has indicated that although” the vaccination it is a free choice “, it is” the sensible and supportive choice “, in an appeal to the population to be inoculated.

In this context, the authorities have tightened restrictions, including meetings at home “for a while”, has been reinstated the 1.5 meter distance rule and the health pass has been extended to non-essential shops and services, with the possibility that companies may also request it in workplaces.

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EFE The confidential

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In addition, the so-called 2G measure has been introduced, already used in Germany, in which only people who have been vaccinated or who have overcome the disease may attend festivals and events. Rutte has also indicated that not only people infected with the coronavirus should quarantine, also the people who live with them.

All the measures, with which the Government hopes to give “a hard blow to the coronavirus”, They will come into force this Saturday, November 13 at 6:00 p.m., and will apply, in principle, until next Saturday, December 4. The aim of the Dutch authorities is to reduce the number of infections by at least 20 percent.

Despite the fact that the Netherlands has one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe, and along with the vast majority of European countries, infections have been increasing in recent weeks, even registering the record of infections in a single day this Thursday, with 16,364 cases.

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