People in the Netherlands could see a curfew of 8pm.
UPDATE: The government is no longer expected to announce a curfew in tonight’s press conference.
The government is considering a curfew in all of the Netherlands of 8pm. Previously, there had not been much support amongst cabinet members for a curfew but things have changed. The main reason behind this change of mind is the new Covid-19 variant that originated in the United Kingdom and has now made its way over to the Netherlands.
This new variant of Covid-19 is said to be 70% more infectious because of a mutation in the spike proteins of the virus. Although primary research by Pfizer suggests that their vaccine is effective against the new variant, this hasn’t yet been confirmed. The Pfizer BioN-Tech vaccine was approved by the EU and is now being rolled out across the Netherlands but that rollout is still in its infancy.
Speaking to De Telegraff, an insider said that the curfew is being considered as a ‘last resort’, and that ‘things are not going well yet with the decrease in infections’. The curfew would aim to reduce friends and family meeting in each other homes on an evening to try and stop contagion in a home setting. The introduction of a curfew is yet to be confirmed and will need to go through the appropriate channels before it can be approved.