VIDEOUnder threat of the omikron variant, the Netherlands is locked again. Almost everything must be closed from tomorrow morning until January 14. It is impossible to wait any longer, the cabinet judges. In the worst case, the omikron wave surpasses the first hospital peak of 2020.
Niels Klaassen, Jan Hoedeman
Latest update:
20:39
“I stand here with a gloomy heart,” said Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Saturday evening during the specially arranged press conference with Health Minister Hugo de Jonge (CDA) and OMT chairman Jaap van Dissel. The Netherlands will be in lockdown again from tomorrow, locked again. I hear people thinking: is this necessary now, just before Christmas? Another downer for entrepreneurs, for young people, for the elderly. But it’s inevitable, we can’t wait. It is necessary to stop the fifth wave.”
According to the most bleak OMT forecasts, hospital numbers around omikron will surpass first wave records if no action is taken. With almost 2400 corona patients still admitted, there is a risk of a healthcare infarction within a few weeks. “If you don’t intervene now, you will be too late,” Rutte said.
“This is terrible, I didn’t sleep last night. Tears come to your eyes when you think of the entrepreneurs, the elderly, the young, everyone who suffers.”
Rutte spoke of ‘perhaps the heaviest moment of the crisis’: ,,Watch each other a bit, look after each other. But we’ll get over this, I believe.”
But intervention is necessary, emphasize Rutte, De Jonge and Van Dissel. The winter lockdown means that only essential shops and services (such as supermarkets and physiotherapists) will be open until 8 p.m. at the latest. Collection remains possible at cafeterias and restaurants. There will be no curfew.
Two more people visiting at home
The number of visitors at home is limited to a maximum of two per day (excluding children up to 13). On Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day and the turn of the year, 4 people are welcome per day. A self-test is recommended. Schools and after-school care are closed, but will remain open for vulnerable children and children of parents with crucial professions. Nurseries for children from 0 to 4 years remain open. Outdoor sports for children up to 18 years old are allowed during the day at their own club, swimming lessons also continue. Professional sport without an audience is also allowed.
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“But everyone is of course free to run around outside, walk, cycle or whatever,” said Rutte. ,,Moving is healthy.”
But otherwise the lock is on, just like December last year. Hairdressers, catering, museums, indoor and outdoor sports for adults, theaters and education must close.
Schools open after Christmas break
The number of contacts has to be drastically reduced to damp the expected omikron wave. The intention is that all schools will open as usual after the Christmas holidays, the cabinet will make a decision on this on January 3. The rest of the lockdown will then continue. The cabinet is now pulling the emergency brake as a precaution. According to the RIVM, the new mutant will already become dominant in the Netherlands before the turn of the year. The new version doubles in two to three days, which is twice as fast as with the delta variant.
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With the lockdown, OMT and the cabinet hope to buy time to put as many booster shots as possible. After three vaccinations, the protection against serious disease by the new mutant seems strong for the time being. By January 7, all over 18s must have received or scheduled a booster shot. People over sixty who would not receive a shot until January will be invited again next week to come earlier.
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Although much is uncertain, OMT and the cabinet consider the risk ‘too great’ to do nothing. The new mutant does not care much about the first vaccinations when it comes to infections. The third shot does work as a ‘refresher’ of the immune system. “Get that booster,” Rutte said.
The delta peak “seems to be behind us,” said Van Dissel. “Now you can see the beneficial effects of that. But the pressure on hospitals remains high. The OMT is therefore concerned about this omikron variant. As a precaution, you are now taking measures, slowing down the spread of omikron. In this way we buy time to prepare, to boost ourselves.” Vaccine manufacturers expect to have an update on vaccinations ready by next spring. Then the protection against omikron is even better.
The new version of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly, it is unclear how much sicker people become than with the delta variant. There are bright spots in this area, but there is still a lack of solid analyses.
But this time the cabinet does not want to wait for the care to overflow again and is therefore already stepping on the brakes. Early intervention is one of the important lessons of this autumn, the OMT acknowledged.
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