close

Shops and universities to reopen Saturday, hospitality stays closed

Shops and universities to reopen Saturday, hospitality stays closed

Sources from The Hague have revealed that the Dutch government plans to reopen non-essential shops, gyms and higher education on Saturday, but that the hospitality industry will remain closed for the time being. 

Dutch government to relax some lockdown rules

As cabinet ministers meet on Thursday to discuss the current coronavirus lockdown and the imminent press conference, sources have told the Dutch media that some restrictions will be relaxed this weekend, but that various measures will remain in place in order to curb the Omicron wave and limit pressure on the Dutch healthcare system

Non-essential shops will reopen from Saturday, but they will only be open for shopping by appointment. Gyms, hairdressers and other contact professions will also reopen. Finally, universities and vocational education will resume physical classes from next week. 

However, despite calls from many to lift the lockdown, rumours suggest restaurants, bars, and cafes will remain closed, as will the cultural industry (i.e. theatres, museums, and cinemas).

Victoria Séveno

Author

Victoria Séveno

Victoria grew up in Amsterdam, before moving to the UK to study English and Related Literature at the University of York and completing her NCTJ course at the Press Association...

Read more

JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)

COMMENTS

Leave a comment

RichardClark2 15:40 | 13 January 2022

I cannot see the point of this Holland lockdown now, when Omicron was supposed to have come from South Africa to here originally, I moved from London where Covid cases are rife to catch and deaths are high, they still are not in lockdown and the health service has coped compared to a quiet Amsterdam 3-4 weeks ago which is pointless going anywhere. The numbers of new cases in Holland daiiy 2000 at most and deaths here per day now is below 40 in Holland are very low and this to me is causing so many issues of development and for people to get on with their lives-you cannot meet people for social or business, find places to rent etc. Restaurants closed is a joke as people order food via apps etc quality is very wayward and expensive from them anyway so if you get Covid more likely from the cooks and chefs in kitchens. The government here in Holland are shooting themselves in the foot and it will backfire with no real evidence towards this then fear compared to larger figures in Europe, UK and Asia. Schools etc are more rife for spreading Covid as you cannot keep distance due to the nature of the job, how do I know this I am an English school teacher and in London thats where big spreads happened and where I caught Covid in late October/early November which I recovered from in 2 weeks. In cafes, museums, you can distance easier. Lucky I work online to make a living online now and these lockdowns will ruin the Dutch economy if they carry on, people need to wake up.