The third week of this winter season’s lockdown is approaching and it’s re-negotiation time. Which begs the question — what will the Dutch government be giving us for Christmas this year-round?
With Christmas gatherings coming up and a new variant in town, Dutch politicians remain concerned. Over the weekend, they will discuss a possible extension of the lockdown. Here’s what’s on the cards.👇
Evening curfew here to stay?
For the past two weeks, non-essential businesses were obliged to close at 5 PM, while essential stores such as supermarkets could remain open until 8 PM.
However, the chances of you being able to head out for a lukewarm Heineken after your Christmas dinner are slim. It’s likely that the evening lockdown will continue but there is no consensus yet on when to start it — 6 PM, 7 PM or 8 PM? We just pray that late-night supermarket runs will be possible again soon. 😩🍦
Proof of vaccination
The cabinet has also already agreed on making QR codes mandatory to enter non-essential shops such as hairdressers, cafes, furniture stores and so forth. The idea is to potentially ‘swap’ stricter measures such as these for the evening lockdown and relieve businesses, RTL Nieuws reports.
What about Christmas?
As we’ve seen last year, the holidays tend to be followed by spikes of coronavirus infections. As of now, the advice is to only host four people at home at a time. But is that really feasible during Christmas time?
The cabinet is debating whether or not to officially restrict visits or simply keep regulations in place. Another debate is to extend the Christmas holiday for school children. We don’t think there’ll be too many complaints about this from the kids — but perhaps from their poor parents.
When will we know for sure?
This weekend is discussion time, so there will probably be announcements (cough, cough, leaks) on either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. A 7 PM Tuesday press conference is the usual time for coronavirus related announcements by the cabinet.
But with the new cabinet being formed at the moment, things are a bit more unclear. We’ll keep you updated and make sure to check out our summary of the press conference on Tuesday!
What do you think about these potential new measures? Tell us in the comments!
Feature Image: Kzenon/depositphotos