Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a press conference. 29 Jan. 2021
Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a press conference. 29 Jan. 2021 - Credit: RVD / YouTube
Health
Politics
Coronavirus
Covid-19
lockdown
primary schools
OMT
RIVM
Mark Rutte
Hugo de Jonge
primary schools closing
Friday, 29 January 2021 - 19:46
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Rutte: Primary schools could reopen Feb. 8; Lockdown exit plan being prepared

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it was still possible for primary schools in the Netherlands to open their doors and begin in-person classroom lessons on Monday, February 8, but it would depend on a final report from the Outbreak Management Team on the spread of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus among children. Schools in the Netherlands have been closed since mid-December.

More information about the schools, and a possible new roadmap to re-open other sectors, will be elaborated on during a press conference Tuesday night with Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge. A draft of the plan was already under review, he said.

"If the spread among small children is not much worse with that new virus than with that old virus, then we would very much like to open primary schools," Rutte stated during his regular weekly press conference on Friday. The primary concern this month was the B117 mutation of the virus, a highly contagious variant thought to have originated in the United Kingdom which caused a cluster of infections centered around a primary school in Lansingerland, Zuid-Holland.

"This is currently being investigated and as soon as we know that we will also know whether you can safely open primary schools. We hope to learn more about it this weekend, or early next week."

Rutte was repeatedly pressed on the question, as earlier Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra had said he could not imagine a situation where the primary schools remained closed after February 8. "But that is why we want to be sure. We need the advice [from the OMT] to see, what that virus, that new virus, does. We really have to weigh that very precisely, this new variant, when it is spread among young children."

With regard to reopening other portions of the country, the outgoing prime minister said he wanted to avoid repeating mistakes made during the summer when national restrictions were quickly relaxed, and more targeted local restrictions did not work as planned. More about this plan will be revealed on Tuesday, he said.

"So that roadmap has all those points adjusted. At least, that is what we are working on," he stated. However, he said it will not necessarily define what sectors can open when infections or hospitalizations drop below a specific level. "Unfortunately it will not be that black and white," he said, noting that the situation is complex and each decision must be measured carefully.

"Suppose you say ... a certain sector can open up, but as a result you still cannot receive anyone at home. We know that many people in the Netherlands are lonely. Then you ultimately have to weigh that choice politically. You have to do that every time."

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Speeding, unclear communication caused fatal collision between water taxi, fast ferry
  • Rotterdam's Summer Carnival recognized as intangible heritage on UNESCO list
  • Two injury time goals keep Dutch women’s Olympic dream alive with Nations League win
  • Ethnically diverse immigrants often live in Randstad, Europeans in border areas
  • Foreign students often decide to stay in the Netherlands if they can find work
  • More Dutch households put their savings in foreign banks

Top stories

  • Dutch fertility rate falls to record low as fewer women choose to have children
  • Netherlands failed to reduce childhood poverty: UNICEF
  • New parliament sworn in today with 68 newcomers; MPs younger, but less diverse
  • Police catch second man during investigation into three fatal Rotterdam shootings
  • First responders got stuck in traffic on the way A1 accident in which two girls died
  • At least 1,000 votes from Dutch abroad arrived too late

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content