Dutch govt orders 3-week partial lockdown amid virus surge
The Hague (AP) : Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced a three-week partial lockdown Friday amid surging COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands, saying his government wants to deliver a hard blow to the virus.
The lockdown that begins Saturday night is the first to start in Western Europe since a new wave of infections began surging across parts of the continent.
Under the lockdown, bars, restaurants and supermarkets will have to close at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), professional sports matches will be played in empty stadiums and people are being urged to work from home as much as possible. Stores selling non-essential items will have to close at 6 p.m.
Tonight we have a very unpleasant message with very unpleasant and far-reaching decisions, Rutte said.
As Rutte spoke, police in The Hague said they arrested a number of people protesting in a nearby street for setting off fireworks.
The Netherlands is not alone in taking measures to rein in soaring coronavirus infections.
Earlier Friday, Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said his country will implement a lockdown for unvaccinated people in two hard-hit regions next week and looks poised to move forward with similar measures nationwide.
Starting Monday, unvaccinated people in the regions of Upper Austria and Salzburg will only be allowed to leave home for specific necessary reasons, such as buying groceries or going to the doctor.
Meanwhile, Germany's disease control center is urging people to cancel or avoid large events and to reduce their contacts as the country's coronavirus infection rate hits a string of new highs.
Speaking about the deteriorating situation in Europe at a press conference earlier Friday, Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization head of emergencies, said that quite frankly, some countries are in such a difficult situation now that they're going to find it hard not to put in place restrictive measures, at least for a short period of time, to reduce the intensity of transmission.
Rutte also said that social distancing is returning. Masks are already widely mandated, including in shops and public transport.
Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said that the government is also working on legislation to restrict access in some high-risk locations and events to people who can demonstrate they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 and not allow people who have tested negative. Austria and parts of Germany already have similar restrictions in place.
Separately, the government announced Friday that it would bring forward the start of a campaign to administer booster shots of COVID-19 shots to older citizens and healthcare workers. The campaign had been set to start in December, but will now begin at the end of next week.
News of the possible move before the announcement had prompted fury among bar owners and sports administrators earlier Friday.
The Dutch soccer federation and top two professional leagues issued a statement expressing great dismay at the expected lockdown and insisting that soccer stadiums which have strict COVID measures in place are not a major source of infections.
This looks like policy poverty, the organizations said, adding that government officials no longer know what to do.
Rutte confirmed that a World Cup soccer qualifier between the Netherlands and Norway on Tuesday in Rotterdam would be played behind closed doors.
An organization representing bar and restaurant owners also slammed the government.
Hospitality businesses are again being presented with the bill for failing government policy, the group said in a statement.
On Thursday the country's public health institute recorded 16,364 new positive tests in 24 hours the highest number of any time during the pandemic that has killed more than 18,600 people in the Netherlands.
The country, where nearly 85% of adults are fully vaccinated, largely ended lockdown restrictions at the end of September.
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BJP won't cross 50-mark in Bengal polls, says TMC in response to Shah's 'two-thirds majority' claim
Kolkata (PTI): The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of peddling falsehoods and making baseless claims about securing a two-thirds majority in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Senior TMC leader and state education minister Bratya Basu told reporters that Shah's remarks were based on hollow assertions and claimed that the BJP would not even cross the 50-seat mark in the polls.
"Shah will keep coming and going like a tourist. Such visits will serve no purpose," Basu said on the sidelines of a programme.
"The BJP will not even cross the 50-mark in the assembly polls and suffer a humiliating defeat," Basu claimed.
Addressing a press conference here, Shah claimed that the BJP would form the next government in the state with a "two-thirds majority in 2026".
"We will not only identify infiltrators, but we'll also drive them out. Bengal will have a new BJP government after April 15, 2026, as people have made up their minds," he said.
Shah also took a dig at the Trinamool Congress government on the issue of women's safety.
"It has been officially stated that women should not step out of their homes after 7 pm. What era are we living in? Are we living in the Mughal period?," he said.
"Mamata ji, this is a free India. Ensuring that women can step out safely whenever they choose is a constitutional right. Your government has failed to provide this basic security," he added.
Criticising Shah over his comments on women's safety in the state, senior TMC leader and minister Sashi Panja urged the Union home minister to visit Bengal during the festive season, like Durga Puja and Christmas, when thousands of women move about freely and participate in festivities.
"In case a stray incident happens, our administration takes prompt action to bring the culprits to book. Instead, the rapists of Bilkis Bano are garlanded by your party activists. Your party shields Kuldeep Sengar and Brij Bhusan, who were accused of committing atrocities. Amitji should not lecture on women's security," she said.
Panja accused Shah and his party at the Centre of coming in the way of the passage of the Aparajita Bill, which would have ensured exemplary punishment to rapists after conviction.
On Shah's claims about the industrial decline of Bengal, Panja said since 2011, investment of Rs 13.8 lakh-crore came to the state.
"Bengal occupies the second berth in the MSME sector as per the figures available with the Centre, and he is peddling falsehood about the industrial growth of Bengal," she said.
TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar also dismissed Shah's assertion that the BJP does not engage in temple-based polarising politics.
"Everyone knows the BJP campaigned on temple-masjid politics in both the 2019 and 2024 elections. This brand of politics will again be rejected by the people of Bengal," Majumdar said.
