Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte extended the Dutch lockdown measures by at least a month on Tuesday, saying that the stricter restrictions were necessary because of the new COVID-19 variants.
The ongoing lockdown restrictions include a 9pm daily curfew and occupancy restrictions in businesses and public areas, as well as closures for places such as indoor entertainment venues, shops, restaurants, bars and cafes.
The extended lockdown, which will last at least until March 2, comes as concerns over the coronavirus variant first identified in England that officials say is more transmissible.
Although positive COVID-19 rates in the Netherlands fell by 20 percent last week to 28,628 new infections, two-thirds of Dutch cases are attributed to new variants, The Associated Press reports.
“The number of new positive cases per day is decreasing and the pressure on hospitals is gradually diminishing. 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 contagious and a new wave of infections,” the report said. Dutch government in a statement.
Rutte said this week that “all calculations point to a third wave that seems inevitably to weigh on 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 it is inevitable to continue the lockdown measure “almost completely until March 2”.
The public health institute considered the decline in the number of new cases a result of the stringent measures and warned against loosening the policy amid the new variants.
Because the Netherlands is concerned about the new variant identified in the UK, the British are concerned about a variant from South Africa. The AP reports that door-to-door tests are being conducted in some communities to stop the further spread.
The Netherlands has been on a stricter lockdown since mid-December and imposed the curfew more than a week ago. The country has recently experienced some clashes between police and anti-blocking protesters.