[arista]

[arista]

[Nicky91]

Netherlands: Hard Lockdown Unavoidable says PM Rutte

ruling out foreign travel until March



Prime minister Mark Rutte called on everyone in the Netherlands to work together to combat coronavirus in an address to the nation on Monday night, and urged people not to make plans to travel abroad until mid March at least.

Speaking from his private office in The Hague against a soundtrack of chants from anti coronavirus rules campaigners, Rutte said that he hoped this would be the last time he would have to speak directly to the population.

The Netherlands, Rutte said, is going into lockdown, involving all places where people come together. The aim, he said, is to reduce human contact to a minimum and so try to prevent the virus from spreading.

‘We realise just how far-reaching this decision is, particularly given that we are in the Christmas period,’ Rutte said. ‘This has been a year of sadness and mourning for many… and one in which stress and loneliness have moved through all the generations.’

Rutte urged everyone to keep to the rules, and said that the majority of the population are doing their best. ‘It is not an innocent flu … as the demonstrators outside seem to think,’ the prime minister said, referring to the noisy group chanting outside his office.

The new measures will remain in effect until January 19 and, Rutte said, he and health minister Hugo de Jonge will hold a press conference on January 12 to outline what the next stages will be.

Schools

The most far-reaching measure, Rutte said, is to close all schools, colleges and universities until January 18, with the exception of people taking exams or involved in practicals.

All non-essential shops will shut, but markets, chemists and dry cleaners and launderettes will remain open. ‘This is a hard message for some shops, but this is what we have to do,’ Rutte said. The scope of government support measures is being widened and the greater the loss, the more support shops can apply for, the prime minister said.

All public buildings will close, but libraries will remain open to exchange books. Hotels can stay open but can no longer provide their guests with food or drinks because ‘too many people are using hotels to eat out’, Rutte said.

Funeral parlours will remain open, and vulnerable groups will still be able to attend community centres, he said. All jobs involving physical contact but which are not of a medical nature will also be closed for the five week period. Cannabis cafes and restaurants can remain open for takeaway services, as they are at present.

Groups outside must be no greater than two, which means you can walk with a friend. as long as you keep 1.5 metres distance, Rutte said. Outdoor sport for adults is also limited to two, but walking and cycling are still to be recommended, the PM told viewers.

Travel too remains a controversial area. ‘Stay at home and don’t travel unless necessary,’ he said. ‘Of course, if you have rented a house for Christmas you can visit it, but while you are there, stick to the rules as well.’

Foreign travel

Travel abroad for all but essential reasons should be avoided up to mid March,Rutte said. ‘The risks and uncertainties are too great,’ the prime minister said. ‘We will also ask our neighbouring countries to make sure their people do the same,’ he said.


From Tuesday, everyone arriving in the Netherlands from outside the EU will have to provide a document at Schiphol airport showing they have tested negative for the virus.

Working at home must once again become the norm and public transport is again being reserved for essential journeys. ‘We have to reduce work related infections, which are still far too high,’ he said, and appealed directly to employers, urging them to make it possible for people to work at home.


The prime minister ended on a positive note, telling his audience that things ‘will get better’. ‘There will come a moment when coronavirus is behind us,’ he said. ‘2021 will be a year of hope, when there is light at the end of the tunnel.’

‘In the coming weeks, it is all down to reducing contacts and we have to help each other to do this,’ he said. ‘We will get through this together, and for each other.’

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2020/1...l-until-march/

[Nicky91]

also since it was not a usual press conference, some minister of our parliament were at talk shows to answer questions

finance minister and new CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra said that they aren't competing against each other using this coronacrisis for next years elections, but that they are working together against corona, that that is the only way to get rid of corona, if we work together

i think all governments from all countries across the world should have this same mentality



also a shame how Rutte's speech got disturbed by anti-maskers whistling and chants in the park across the tower office and Rutte himself also mentioned them as underestimating this virus as just a flu which is the wrong mindset in fighting the invisible enemy

[Nicky91]

viewer ratings for Rutte's speech was 8.5 million

of those, 6 million watched at NOS, 1.9 million via RTL4, 470k via SBS6


never before this many viewers for one program (that wasn't a sports event), also broke the record of the first corona press conference which had 7.6 million viewers

[Nicky91]

well said Ursula, the whole world must work together as one united front against covid-19

[arista]

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Nicky91

also since it was not a usual press conference, some minister of our parliament were at talk shows to answer questions

finance minister and new CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra said that they aren't competing against each other using this coronacrisis for next years elections, but that they are working together against corona, that that is the only way to get rid of corona, if we work together

i think all governments from all countries across the world should have this same mentality



also a shame how Rutte's speech got disturbed by anti-maskers whistling and chants in the park across the tower office and Rutte himself also mentioned them as underestimating this virus as just a flu which is the wrong mindset in fighting the invisible enemy

They should have turned the power hoses on them ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Nicky91

also since it was not a usual press conference, some minister of our parliament were at talk shows to answer questions

finance minister and new CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra said that they aren't competing against each other using this coronacrisis for next years elections, but that they are working together against corona, that that is the only way to get rid of corona, if we work together

i think all governments from all countries across the world should have this same mentality



also a shame how Rutte's speech got disturbed by anti-maskers whistling and chants in the park across the tower office and Rutte himself also mentioned them as underestimating this virus as just a flu which is the wrong mindset in fighting the invisible enemy

did he show specifically how a lockdown will have an effect on covid deaths and show his workings?

[Nicky91]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

did he show specifically how a lockdown will have an effect on covid deaths and show his workings?

deaths are not important


a hard lockdown will get numbers of daily new cases down


daily new cases, new hospitalisations, to get ICU numbers down is more important

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Nicky91

deaths are not important


a hard lockdown will get numbers of daily new cases down


daily new cases, new hospitalisations, to get ICU numbers down is more important

ok

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Nicky91

also since it was not a usual press conference, some minister of our parliament were at talk shows to answer questions

finance minister and new CDA leader Wopke Hoekstra said that they aren't competing against each other using this coronacrisis for next years elections, but that they are working together against corona, that that is the only way to get rid of corona, if we work together

i think all governments from all countries across the world should have this same mentality

Especially in our country ..



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Cherie]

all secondary schools and Colleges will have regular tests from January, staff will be tested weekly

Good luck Zizu!

[Nicky91]

Netherlands: all health care workers could be vaccinated within 6 weeks


and some more good news

first europeans might be vaccinated before the end of 2020

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

all secondary schools and Colleges will have regular tests from January, staff will be tested weekly

Good luck Zizu!

I hope they are not the same tests I got. Was quite early on in this, but I swear I was meant to touch my brain with how high the stick was meant to go, and I gagged like hell with the tonsil bit too. Feel bad for teachers/kids if its still that one

[Tom4784]

I just hope they're ready with a lot more vaccinations in the new year because we'll likely get another wave in the wake of Christmas.

[Nicky91]

christmas in my country can still be celebrated, then the hard lockdown will ease down a tiny bit, Rutte at least understands christmas holiday is also good for our morale for those few days



in Germany they are thinking of sending quick testing kits to households, to get themselves tested, and if a negative result they can invite some relatives over (with asking them too to get tested)

[Vicky.]

I genuinely don't see how the vaccine thing will work in reality, especially if the whole country is getting it (obviously excet those who can't) and last I read, it looked like it was going to be something done every 6 months/year, similar to flu jab?

I don't really see how we could afford double (or quadruple, as it seems 2 doses are needed..) vacinating ever person. Nice thught, but I cannot see it at all..

[LukeB]

Originally Posted by Cherie

all secondary schools and Colleges will have regular tests from January, staff will be tested weekly

Good luck Zizu!

Should have been done ages ago but hey the gov sure loves doing things late.

[Nicky91]

but the reason it went up in germany quite fast is due to carelessness

https://www.thelocal.de/20201215/cov...germany-due-to

The number of cases is higher than ever before and it continues to rise, said RKI President Lothar Wieler in Berlin on Tuesday.

He said there was a danger that the situation would continue to worsen and that it would become increasingly difficult to deal with the pandemic and its consequences.

With between 12,000 and 30,000 new infections reported per day, the number of cases in December was significantly higher than in November, Wieler explained.

Last week saw a record high of nearly 30,000 new infections in one day, with the number of deaths also rising steadily.

Currently, 325,000 people in Germany are infected with Sars-CoV-2, compared to a few thousand in the summer months. The group of 80-year-olds is increasingly affected, with a particularly high risk of severe and fatal courses of the disease.

The fact that far too many people are currently infected is "the result of carelessness on the part of some people", said Wieler. The number of new infections must now drop significantly. He called on people to limit contacts to the bare minimum.

Personally, he would not take advantage of the decided maximum number at meetings over Christmas, but deliberately stay below it.

At the same press conference, Health Minister Jens Spahn of the Christian Democrats (CDU) said he was optimistic that a vaccine could be approved on December 23rd.

The goal is to achieve European vaccine approval before Christmas, he said, and then to be able to start vaccinating in Germany before the turn of the year.

Spahn said on Monday that he was hopeful that 60 percent of Germans could be vaccinated by the autumn.

[Vanessa]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

I genuinely don't see how the vaccine thing will work in reality, especially if the whole country is getting it (obviously excet those who can't) and last I read, it looked like it was going to be something done every 6 months/year, similar to flu jab?

I don't really see how we could afford double (or quadruple, as it seems 2 doses are needed..) vacinating ever person. Nice thught, but I cannot see it at all..

Well, I think it's a step in the right direction.
And down vaccines only need one dose, so hopefully we'll be able to to get one of those.

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by LukeB

Should have been done ages ago but hey the gov sure loves doing things late.

Schools weren't done as government knew school numbers would be high, and that does not go hand in hand with their message about covid not daring to enter schools at all, nothing to worry about! It knows not to spread in schools. Same as it knew not to spread until 10pm!

[Vanessa]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I just hope they're ready with a lot more vaccinations in the new year because we'll likely get another wave in the wake of Christmas.

Oh we definitely will.

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Vanessa

Well, I think it's a step in the right direction.
And down vaccines only need one dose, so hopefully we'll be able to to get one of those.

Oh of course, its brilliant news, especially for those more vulnerable.

Which one only needs 1? One they keep going on about in the news is one where you have a week or two wait inbetween vaccinations..

[Tom4784]

I think most of them require two doses, not heard anything about having to re-vaccinate though.