Cabinet to expand restaurant opening hours; Will end work from home advice

The Cabinet plans to extend opening hours in the catering industry and scrap the advice to work from home as much as possible, sources close to the government said to NOS. According to the sources, the relatively favorable hospital figures mean there's room for further relaxation of the coronavirus restrictions.

Currently, catering establishments have to close at 10:00 p.m. It has not yet been determined how much longer they'll be allowed to stay open, but the sources think midnight is likely. The Cabinet also wants to abolish mandatory social distancing in the catering sector. The Cabinet is also considering putting an end to the coronavirus access pass system.

It also looks like the advice to work from home will be scrapped, the broadcaster wrote, as will the direction to receive no more than four visitors per day at home.

According to the broadcaster's sources, festivals and large events will be possible again from February 25. They'll have to implement the 1G access policy - everyone must test negative before attending, whether they've been vaccinated or not. On Wednesday morning, the events sector said they plan to open on March 11.

On Tuesday, Minister Ernst Kuipers of Public Health told parliament that the Cabinet wants to focus more on keeping society open when it comes to coronavirus policy - to the delight of the mayors on the Security Council.

There will be another coronavirus press conference on Tuesday. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the press conference will not be held by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Only Kuipers will address the nation.