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 The curfew would allow only people with pressing needs to leave
their homes between 8:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. local time as of Friday
night, RTL said, citing government sources.
Schools and non-essential shops have already been closed since
mid-December, following the shutdown of bars and restaurants two
months earlier.
This lockdown will remain in place until at least Feb. 9, Prime
Minister Mark Rutte said last week.
The introduction of the first night curfew since that imposed on the
Dutch by German occupiers in World War II is highly contentious, and
various political parties have already said they will never back it.
The government is discussing the curfew and other possible measures
on Wednesday morning, and has said it will announce its decisions
early in the afternoon.
It will then seek the backing of parliament for its measures in a
debate expected to start around 1500 GMT. The curfew however can be
imposed without the backing of opposition parties.
The government is also considering whether to ban travel to and from
Britain and South Africa, RTL said, to limit the spread of the
highly contagious variants of the virus which were first discovered
there.
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Infections in the Netherlands have decreased steadily in the past
three weeks, but health authorities say the new variants will lead
to a new surge by next month if social distancing measures are not
tightened.
The Dutch government currently has a caretaker status, as Rutte last
Friday handed his resignation to King Willem-Alexander following a
damning report on his cabinet's handling of childcare subsidies.
Rutte has said he will remain able to take decisions on COVID-19
policies until a new government is formed after the March 17
elections, seeking broad support for measures from both coalition
and opposition parties.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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