Cabinet gives go-ahead to relax more lockdown restrictions: Reports
The caretaker Cabinet of the Netherlands has agreed to allow more restrictions to be loosened up from April 28, in addition to the reopening of cafe terraces and the elimination of the curfew. On Tuesday night, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge will announce that funerals may be attended by more people, and there will be an ability to immediately cancel all Fieldlab experiments if there’s a sharp increase in Covid-19 patients requiring intensive care, broadcasters RTL Nieuws and NOS reported.
Aside from the curfew coming to an end after three months, cafes will be allowed to welcome guests on their outdoor terraces for the first time in six months. People from the same household may share a table, and up to two people from different households will be allowed to sit together. There will be a limit to the maximum number of people allowed, and limits based on space. The cafe terraces will likely be allowed to open at noon, and will have to close by 6 p.m.
Additionally, 100 people will be allowed to attend funerals, RTL Nieuws reported based on anonymous sources close to the Cabinet. The current rules have funeral attendance capped at fifty visitors.
The caretaker Cabinet also wants to be able to cancel all Fieldlab experiments, a pilot program organized to determine what sectors can safely reopen during the pandemic, if the number of intensive care unit patients with Covid-19 rises above 900. As of Monday afternoon, that figure stood at 813, the highest it has been in nearly a year.
Earlier on Tuesday news leaked out that non-essential retail stores would be allowed to reopen without customers having to make an appointment four hours in advance. NOS reported later in the day that closing time for these stores would likely be no later than 8 p.m. Rules about maximum store capacity set at 50 customers, or one customer per 25 square meters of floor space, are unlikely to change.
The Cabinet is also expected to permit the theory exam for a driver’s license to be given in a classroom setting.