[ad_1]
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called on the country to respect the night curfew and said it was still necessary to combat the coronavirus pandemic despite a previous court ruling that the measure lacked a legal basis.
Rutte’s coronavirus policy took a major blow when a court said his government had not clarified why it was necessary to use emergency powers at this stage of the pandemic.
The government said it would appeal the ruling.
The court said it would rule later today whether the curfew should remain in effect until the appeal hearing, which will take place as soon as possible.
Mr. Rutte argued that the curfew was necessary to prevent an increase in infections due to new, more contagious mutations of the virus.
“It would be very unwise to lift the curfew at this time,” Rutte told reporters.
“We installed it to control the coronavirus as much as possible and to make it possible to regain our freedom safely.”
Latest coronavirus stories
Rutte said his government was working on an emergency law to give the curfew a stronger legal base and urged everyone in the Netherlands to limit their social contacts.
The Dutch public health institute RIVM said that all coronavirus measures, including the curfew, had helped limit the spread of the disease, despite the arrival of a more contagious variant first discovered in Britain.
More than two-thirds of new cases in the Netherlands are of this variant, the RIVM said, and those patients on average infect more than one person.
The curfew, which allows only people with an urgent need to be outdoors between 9:00 p.m. and 4:30 a.m., was extended last week until at least March 3.
The first curfew in the Netherlands since World War II sparked several days of unrest by anti-blockade protesters when it was introduced on January 23.
It’s part of a lockdown in which nonessential bars, restaurants and shops have been closed for months.
Infections were roughly stable for the week through today, RIVM said, but fewer people were willing to test due to cold weather.
[ad_2]