Cabinet discussing Covid testing everyone, vaccinated or not, to enter nightclubs

The Cabinet will talk with the nightlife industry to see whether they could be opened with the 1G coronavirus access policy, Minister Ernst Kuipers of Public Health promised during a parliamentary debate on the coronavirus. PvdA MP Attje Kuiken asked whether the sector might reopen if all visitors, vaccinated or not, are tested for Covid-19 before entering. Though she added that this solution is "not ideal."

Currently, people who visit a catering establishment have to show a coronavirus access pass based on the 3G system. They must show they have been vaccinated against, recovered from, or tested negative for Covid-19. Parliament also discusses the 2G policy, which only allows access to vaccinated or recovered people. In 1G, everyone must test negative.

Earlier in the coronavirus debate, parliamentarians also discussed the possibility of testing people in many more places to reopen society further. The Cabinet believes that extensive use of coronavirus tests is not possible because there is insufficient testing capacity for this in a "period when things are already going wrong in all kinds of places," said Kuipers. But he promised to talk with the nightlife sector after Kuiken pointed out that the sector has been unable to operate for two years.