Rutte to warn against excessive optimism at tonight’s Covid press conference

In a coronavirus press conference on Tuesday, the government will not give clarity on what Christmas will look like in terms of the lockdown, Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health said on Monday. The government wants to temper expectations - Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be warning against excessive optimism, according to De Telegraaf.

"Christmas is still a long way off. What we naturally want to do: see if we can do something more, because it is a party that you celebrate together," De Jonge said, RTL Nieuws reports. "But I don't think we can provide any clarity about that right now. The figures are a lot lower than they were, but still a lot higher than they need to be."

As expected, the additional measures implemented on top of the partial lockdown two weeks ago will be scrapped. That means that people will be allowed to gather groups larger than two again, though how much larger is not yet clear. And museums, libraries, amusement parks, zoos, and concert halls will be allowed to reopen, though with restrictions.

The expectation is that there won't be more relaxations, according to the broadcaster.

The government is considering various options for reopening the catering industry, but no go-ahead is expected on Tuesday. A definite timeline for the catering industry is expected sometime early December.