“The country is opening up again,” Health Minister Ernst
Kuipers said.
The Dutch are following neighboring Belgium and other
European nations in easing restrictions as the continent increasingly looks for
ways of co-existing with the virus without the economic and social damage
wreaked by lockdown measures.
Earlier Tuesday, the Dutch national public health institute
said in its weekly update that new COVID-19 cases declined by 22% over the past
seven days and ICU admissions fell 28%.
“It looks like we are at or over the peak,” Kuipers said.
The government late last year imposed some of Europe’s
toughest lockdown measures amid fears that a surge in infections sparked by the
omicron variant could overwhelm hospitals. But while cases shot up, intensive
care unit admissions fell, allowing authorities to relax restrictions that had
forced bars and restaurants to close over the lucrative Christmas holiday
season.
Hospitality and other public venues have been open for weeks
with limited hours. Nightclubs have remained closed, sparking anger among
owners and clubbers.
Lockdowns and vaccination campaigns have caused anger and
resentment among a small section of society and sparked regular protests, some
of which have erupted into violence.
Kuipers said the restrictions would be eased in three steps.
With immediate effect, the government dropped its advice to
always work from home and instead urged people to work from home half the time.
It also scrapped its advice to restrict the number of visitors people allow
into their homes to four per day.
Beginning Friday, bars, restaurants, theaters, cinemas and
other public venues will be allowed to stay open until 1 a.m. instead of the
current order to close at 10 p.m. Visitors to such venues will no longer have
to remain seated and wear a mask when they walk around.
A week later, pre-pandemic opening hours will apply to all
public venues and a COVID-19 heal pass will no longer be necessary to get
access to venues. Social distancing and mask mandates will be dropped with the
exception of mask wearing on public transport and at airports.
Kuipers said the country’s current pandemic situation means
such measures are no longer necessary.
“Corona cast a shadow over our lives. Corona made us lonely.
Corona sometimes put deep divisions between us,” he said. “Fortunately, we are
now in another phase.”
The Netherlands has reported over 21,900 COVID-19 deaths in
the pandemic. -AP
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