Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte extended the Dutch blockade measures on Tuesday for a minimum of one month, saying that stricter restrictions were necessary due to the new variants of COVID-19.
Continuous blocking restrictions include a daily 9 pm curfew and restrictions on occupancy levels in businesses and public spaces, along with closings from places such as indoor entertainment venues, retail stores, restaurants, bars and cafes.
The protracted blockade, which will continue until at least March 2, comes as concerns are mounting over the coronavirus variant first identified in England, which authorities believe to be more transmissible.
Although positive COVID-19 rates in the Netherlands dropped 20 percent last week to 28,628 new infections, two-thirds of Dutch cases are being attributed to new variants, reports the Associated Press.
“The number of new positive cases per day is decreasing and the pressure on hospitals is gradually decreasing. But new variants of the virus are rapidly gaining ground in the Netherlands. This is a cause for concern because these new variants are more infectious and may cause a new one. wave of infections, “the Dutch government said in a statement.
Rutte said this week that “all calculations point to a third wave that seems inevitably to hit us, the main cause of which is the British variant of the coronavirus,” the AP reported.
After hearing the new data and recommendations from the country’s public health institute, Rutte said that continuing the blockade measure “almost entirely until March 2 is inevitable”.
The public health institute considered the drop in the number of new cases as a result of the severe measures and warned against policy relaxation amid the new variants.
While the Netherlands is concerned about the new variant identified in the UK, the British are concerned about a South African variant. The AP reports that in some communities, house-to-house testing is being conducted in an attempt to prevent the spread.
The Netherlands has been in a tougher block since mid-December and imposed a curfew more than a week ago. The country has recently seen some clashes between the police and anti-lockdown protesters.