If the situation improves, the Netherlands could emerge from the lockdown before January 14. “If more young people than older people contract this variant, the infections are high, but hospital admissions are low." It may take some time before we have data on this,” he said. "We do not yet know how sick it will make you. Van Dissel said there was a great deal that was still unknown about the situation. In Amsterdam the percentage is already around 25 percent, and elsewhere in Europe we see we the same.” “The increase is about doubling every two to three days. “The OMT is concerned about the Omicron variant, which still only accounts for a small part of the infections, but that share will increase very quickly,” Van Dissel said. The Delta variant which has been most common since July. It is expected to be the dominant variant in the country by New Year’s Day, said Jaap van Dissel, the director of the RIVM. The first known case of the Omicron variant in the Netherlands was discovered in a sample taken on November 19. He also stated, “Omicron is spreading even faster than we feared, so we must intervene now.” We are not the only ones, but that is of course no consolation." It is terrible for everyone, for the whole country, that we have been in mired in this for almost two years. If it later turns out that our concerns were justified, you are already too late. “Yesterday they said that it seems very worrying. We were blown out of our seats when we first heard about the major concerns the OMT has,” Rutte said, and that is why this press conference was arranged just four days after the last. There will not include a curfew for the time being. Nearly every store, cafe, service provider, and cultural venue will be closed during the lockdown, which will continue until January 14. Speaking during a press conference on Saturday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the lockdown is out of concern for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. There were 14,616 new infections reported in 24 hours.The Netherlands will expand the current evening lockdown into a complete hard lockdown starting at 5 a.m. On Saturday the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) reported a total of over 2.9 million COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 20,420 reported deaths. While more than 85% of the Dutch adult population is vaccinated, fewer than 9% of adults have had a booster shot, one of the lowest rates in Europe. Omicron is expected to become the most dominant variant of the virus in the Netherlands between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, leading Dutch infectious disease expert Jaap van Dissel said. The Omicron variant arrived as the country was already battling a wave in coronavirus infections.Ĭases of the variant have surged since it was first found in the Netherlands three weeks ago, while hospitals are struggling with the large numbers of COVID-19 patients in their wards, near the highest levels this year. Infections in the Netherlands have dropped from record levels in recent weeks after the introduction of a nighttime lockdown late last month. Other measures include a recommendation that households receive no more than two visitors and that gatherings outside are also limited to a maximum of two people.Ī failure to act now would likely lead to “an unmanageable situation in hospitals,” which have already scaled back regular care to make space for COVID-19 patients, Rutte said.
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