Netherlands and Czech Republic to enforce strict Christmas lockdowns | The Guardian -
December 14, 2020 - "The Netherlands and the Czech Republic have said they will follow Germany into strict second lockdowns over the holiday period, with Italy weighing similar measures to avoid a fresh surge in coronavirus infections over Christmas and new year.
"In a rare television address, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said non-essential shops and businesses, gyms, museums, cinemas and theatres would close for five weeks.... Bars and restaurants in the Netherlands have been closed since mid-October but the partial lockdown has not slowed the spread of the virus enough, Rutte said, as anti-lockdown protesters booed and whistled outside his office.
"'The Netherlands will close for five weeks,' Rutte said... People were advised to stay at home and could have only a maximum of two guests a day, Rutte said, except for 24-26 December when the limit would be raised to three, excluding children under 13. Schools will close from Wednesday, he added, and the measures would last until 19 January.
"Restaurants, hotels and indoor sports venues in the Czech Republic, which reopened barely a fortnight ago, will also close again from Friday, said the prime minister, Andrej Babiš, as cases began to rise again after dipping earlier this month. Public gatherings will be limited to six people indoors and out, instead of the current 10 and 50, with a nationwide curfew from 11pm until 5am and an early start to Christmas school holidays, although shops will remain open....
"Italian media reported the government was considering placing the whole country under 'red-zone' lockdown from Christmas Eve until at least 2 January amid mounting fears of infections over the festive period. The measures could include extending night curfews, banning non-essential movement, shutting all except for non-essential shops and closing all bars and restaurants on weekends and holidays.... Earlier this month the government banned travel during the holiday period except for work, health or emergency reasons, barring Italians from leaving their home towns on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day....
"Italy’s expected move follows a similar step by Germany, which on Sunday said it would close all except essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as hair and beauty salons, from Wednesday until at least 10 January as it battles “exponential growth” in infections.... German president] Merkel had hoped a 'lockdown lite' imposed in November would bring infection levels down so Germans could celebrate Christmas and new year almost normally, but the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases reported more than 16,000 new cases on Monday, 4,000 more than seven days ago.
"Britain is expected to maintain its rules around Christmas despite scientists and government advisers urging people to rethink their plans and ignore the easing of Covid rules amid fears over rising cases and hospitalisations in parts of the UK. 'Christmas bubbles' allow three households to mix between 23 and 27 December."
So what I'm hearing is, despite lock downs.. the virus is spreading. ... hmmm sooooo it doesn't matter if we lock down or not the virus is going to spread. But let's just keep locking down.. This is BS. The only thing I can say is atleast these countries are shutting down what sounds like everything. Whereas it feels like in America the governors are being quite choosy and unfair in who their shut downs are aimed at. Football's still happening but local shops have been deemed closeable. And fines sanctioned on bussiness for not complying with mask rules. BUT we can still watch football! SMH.
ReplyDeleteYeah - a third lockdown, like in Czechia, Germany, and (today) Austria, means to me that the second one failed. OTOH, they *seemed* to work in those countries in the spring - which could have been because people were voluntarily socially distancing anyway, or could have been because it was spring and it's a seasonal virus - but if you're convinced that lockdowns were what did it then, the only reason for their failure now has to be that they didn't lock down hard enough. Even if those running the governments no longer believe that lockdowns save lives, enough of their citizens still do that, if they don't lock down, they're blamed for every death (whereas if they do, they're blameless).
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