|
 Dutch broadcaster NOS said the first such measures in Western Europe
since the summer will go into effect on Saturday evening in a bid to
stop a surge in COVID-19 cases, which hit a record on Thursday.
People will be urged to work from home as much as possible, and no
audiences will be allowed at sporting events in the coming weeks,
including top-level soccer matches. Schools, theatres and cinemas
would remain open.
Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte's cabinet will take a final
decision during a cabinet meeting on Friday, and will announce the
new measures during a televised news conference scheduled for 1800
GMT.
It was unclear whether the government would adopt a
politically-sensitive recommendation by its leading pandemic
advisory panel to limit access to public places to people who have
been fully vaccinated or have had COVID-19 after the lockdown
period.
New coronavirus infections in the country of 17.5 million have
increased rapidly after social distancing measures were dropped in
late September and hit a record of around 16,300 in 24 hours on
Thursday.
The new wave of infections has put pressure on hospitals throughout
the country, forcing them to scale back regular care again to treat
COVID-19 patients.
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A new lockdown would mean a drastic turn in policy for the Dutch
government, which until last month thought that a relatively high
vaccination rate would mean it could further ease measures towards
the end of the year.
But it is not alone in considering strict measures as infections
spike to record levels. Austria on Thursday said it was days away
from placing millions of unvaccinated people in lockdown.
Around 85% of the adult Dutch population has been fully vaccinated
against COVID-19. Booster shots have so far only been provided to a
small group of people with weak immune systems, and will be offered
to people aged 80 years and older in December.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Lincoln
Feast and Edmund Blair)
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