The Netherlands lifts most of the corona measures
Created: 02/15/2022, 19:53
People shopping in the center of Amsterdam.
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"The country will be reopened," the Dutch Minister of Health rejoices.
The government is preparing far-reaching relaxation of the corona measures.
The Hague – The Netherlands lifts most of the corona measures.
From Friday, football stadiums, theatres, cinemas and restaurants will be allowed to receive almost unlimited visitors again - and they will be open again until 1 a.m. instead of 10 p.m. as before.
"The country will be reopened," Health Minister Ernst Kuipers said in The Hague on Tuesday evening.
In view of the declining number of infections, there is reason for optimism, explained Kuipers.
"But we have to be realistic.
Corona is not gone.” He continued to call on citizens to be careful.
The return to normality happens in two steps.
After the first easing this Friday, the expected last step will follow on February 25th.
Then the mask requirement will be largely abolished and also the Corona pass, it said.
With the pass, visitors to restaurants, culture and sport still have to prove that they have been tested, vaccinated or recovered.
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For major indoor events such as festivals, testing will be mandatory in the future.
The mask requirement should only apply in local public transport and on airplanes.
In the past few weeks, pressure from citizens and businesses on the government to lift the measures had increased.
Even experts now consider this to be justifiable.
According to the Institute for Health and Environment RIVM, the number of patients in hospitals is falling slightly.
The number of new infections has also fallen by 22 percent in the past seven days.
"It seems that the peak of this wave of infections is behind us," said the RIVM.
dpa
