Covid-19: new night of violence in the Netherlands in the face of health restrictions

The tension does not fall.

Dutch police announced on Sunday that they had arrested 19 people after a second night of violent protests against the latest government health measures.

In The Hague, several police officers in riot gear charged groups of protesters who threw stones and various objects at them in a working-class area, and used a water cannon to put out burning bicycles at a busy intersection, explained the city police in a statement.

In total, the police made "19 arrests for insults among other things," she added.

VIDEO: 🇳🇱 Rioting broke out in the #Netherlands for a second night late on Saturday over the government's coronavirus measures, with officers in riot gear charging groups of demonstrators in #TheHague where a water cannon was used to put out a pile of blazing bicycles pic.twitter.com/GwyDE7hyWT

- AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 21, 2021

During the clashes, the riot police thus extracted a woman from a car whose occupants had shouted at the police, and put her in one of their van, an AFP correspondent noted.

Violence in several cities

Protests against health restrictions turned into riot again on Saturday night in the Netherlands, especially in The Hague where five police officers were injured, the day after violence in Rotterdam (southwest) where 51 people were arrested and three gunshot wounds.

Violence also broke out in Urk, a small Protestant town in the center of the country, and in several localities in the province of Limburg (south).

The Netherlands reintroduced partial containment last week to cope with an outbreak of Covid-19 cases, with a series of health restrictions affecting in particular the restaurant sector, which is due to close at 8 p.m.

The government is now planning to ban certain places for the unvaccinated, including bars and restaurants.