Salzburg and Upper Austria states, which have seen some of the worst case rates, are already introducing a lockdown for the unvaccinated from Monday. In Austria, the government said it wanted a lockdown for those not vaccinated against or recovered from the coronavirus, while Vienna city authorities said they would start vaccinating children as young as five - a first in the EU. "However, we are not talking about confinements or measures as strict as we saw earlier in the pandemic." "The government wants to introduce new national measures to contain contagions," he said. The Nordic country, which had lifted all Covid-19 restrictions in late September, will also propose a third vaccine dose for people over 18 but will not impose a new lockdown, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told a news conference. Other European nations stopped short of such drastic action but Norway said it would reintroduce nationwide measures to stem surging coronavirus cases, including authorising towns to use health passes. Several hundred protesters angered by the announcement gathered in The Hague afterwards, with police firing water cannon at them. Public events will also be scrapped while football matches including the Netherlands' home World Cup qualifier with Norway next week must be played behind closed doors. People will be limited to having four visitors at home and have been advised to work at home unless absolutely necessary. "Fortunately, the vast majority have been vaccinated, otherwise the misery in the hospitals would be incalculable at the moment," Rutte said.īars, restaurants, cafes and supermarkets will have to shut at 8:00 pm for the next three weeks from Saturday, while non-essential shops must shut at 6:00 pm, the Dutch government said.
Non-vaccinated people are the most affected.Īnnouncing his country's partial lockdown, Rutte told the nation the crisis required a "hard blow of a few weeks because the virus is everywhere, throughout the country, in all sectors and all ages".Ĭases have soared since the Dutch government lifted most Covid measures less than two months ago on September 25, reaching a record level of more than 16,000 on Thursday and Friday. Since it emerged in China in December 2019, the coronavirus has killed over five million people and caused economic devastation around the world.Įurope is facing a sharp deterioration in the epidemic situation, especially in Germany and central and eastern Europe. In its weekly risk assessment, the European Centre for Disease Control listed Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia in its highest category of concern. The "annoying and far-reaching" measures came as the EU's diseases agency said 10 countries in the 27-member bloc faced a Covid situation of "very high concern", warning the pandemic was worsening across the continent. Dutch premier Mark Rutte announced at least three weeks of lockdown measures targeting restaurants, shops and sporting events to curb a record spike in coronavirus infections.
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