By Greg Vega 
The Netherlands will be “jailed” for the Christmas holidays on Sunday, December 19, in an effort to stem the sharp rise in cases of Omicron variation, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced at a news conference. Saturday evening. “Tonight I am in a dark mood. In a nutshell, the Netherlands will return to normalcy from tomorrow. “ Mr Rutte said. The jail term will last at least until January 14.
The government met on Saturday with health experts recommending the closure of all essential businesses, schools, bars, restaurants and other establishments open to the public. “This is inevitable as the Fifth Wave and the Omigron are spreading faster than we feared. As a precaution we must intervene now.”, The Prime Minister continued.
All non-essential shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas, concert halls, museums and theaters should close their doors from Sunday to January 14, while schools should keep their doors closed until at least January 9, Mr. Rutte said. At the same time, with the exception of Christmas Day, December 25, the number of guests allowed to enter their homes is reduced from four to two. “Funerals and marriages are possible under certain conditions”, Comprehensive Mark Rutte.
Omicron will soon be in the majority
Jab von Diesel, chairman of the Dutch Epidemiology Committee, told a news conference that the Omicron Delta would dominate the Netherlands by the end of this year, overcoming variation.
The government had already ordered an extension of the closure of bars, restaurants and most shops from 5pm to 5am on Tuesday, January 14th. Authorities are pushing for a week-long Christmas holiday in elementary schools. Even before this “Prison”, Waiting in long queues in front of shops on Saturday afternoon. Many Dutch people were doing their Christmas shopping as reports about the new restrictions were already beginning to spread.
On Friday, the National Institutes of Public Health identified 15,433 new Covit-19 pollutants, down 25% from the previous week, but still higher than the peaks recorded in previous waves. This new wave of pollution caused by the Omigron variant may increase the pressure on the healthcare system when hospitals are already forced to postpone non-emergency operations to welcome Covid-19 patients.