The Netherlands will go into a strict lockdown over the Christmas and New Year period to try to contain the highly- contagious Omicron coronavirus variant.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said a failure to act now would likely lead to "an unmanageable situation in hospitals".The Netherlands will go into a strict lockdown over the Christmas and New Year period to try to contain the highly- contagious Omicron coronavirus variant, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Saturday.
"It is inevitable with the fifth wave and with Omicron spreading even faster than we had feared. We must now intervene as a precaution."The Omicron strain would soon overtake the Delta variant in the Netherlands, said the head of the Dutch outbreak management team, Jaap van Dissel. "We know that the variant can outflank built-up defences from previous infections or previous vaccinations, especially if that was some time ago," he said.Mr Rutte's announcement came after an emergency cabinet meeting, and just four days after the government extended its previous measures and announced that schools would start their holidays earlier.
"I can now hear the whole of the Netherlands sighing. This is exactly one week before Christmas, another Christmas that is completely different from what we would like," said Mr Rutte. The Netherlands relaxed most social distancing measures in September, but by November infections were back up to record levels of more than 20,000 a day.
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