Catering sector devastated by plans to extend evening lockdown

News that the Cabinet may extend the current coronavirus restrictions until early next year has devastated the catering sector. A mandatory closing time of 5:00 p.m., among other things, means that catering entrepreneurs will miss out on the most significant part of their holiday turnover, Ruud Bakker of the Eindhoven branch of hospitality union KHN said to Omroep Brabant.

"I'm not even surprised anymore," Bakker said to the broadcaster. "A month ago, I already said that this would last longer than a few weeks and that I was in favor of a hard lockdown. Then everyone would have suffered a bit, and we could continue. Now there is still more muddling through and pondering. It is not for nothing that the Dutch have so little confidence in the coronavirus policy."

According to Bakker, the catering industry is always the biggest victim of the Cabinet's coronavirus policy. "I have the idea that it is always shifted to the catering industry because that is the economy that harms the Cabinet the least. They are least bothered by it and can best control it. Entrepreneurs have become despondent."

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge will hold a press conference on Tuesday evening. They'll explain what the coronavirus restrictions will look like in the coming weeks. The Netherlands' infection figures have started decreasing, but pressure on hospitals is still high.