Bars, restaurants, cinemas and theatres set to open until 10pm

Cabinet wants hospitality & catering business and the cultural sector to open from Wednesday, 26 January, until 10pm. A coronavirus entry pass is required.

The cabinet is aiming to open cafes, restaurants, cinemas, museums and theaters until 10pm. The public is also allowed to participate in sports competitions. Visitors are only welcome with a corona ticket. That is the outcome of the Catshuis consultation, political sources in The Hague have told to the editors of RTL Nieuws and news agency ANP today, 24 January, 2022.

All sectors could therefore open again from Wednesday until 10:00pm, but the necessary conditions are set for the opening. 3G will again apply for access to a restaurant or theater: you must be able to show your vaccination or recovery certificate, or a negative test. Visitors must be given a permanent seat and have to wear face masks when walking to and from their seats.

Indoor and outdoor events will also get the green light again, although there will be strict rules on capacity, Indoor events will be limited to 1,250 visitors, while outdoors capacity will be limited to one third. In addition, everyone will have to show a coronavirus pass.

This weekend the OMT (Outbreak Management Team) suggested allowing the sectors to open until 8pm, with some exceptions. Ministers seem to have agreed today to introduce a 10:00pm deadline to make enforcement easier.

Corona press conference

The cabinet will make a final decision tomorrow, when the current package of measures will also expire. Tonight there will be a meeting with the mayors of the Security Council.

Tomorrow prime Minister Rutte and health minister Ernst Kuipers will give a press conference at 7:00pm.

The further relaxation of the rules, if confirmed, would come at a time when the number of new infections is growing and the regional health boards (GGD) are struggling to cope with processing the numbers. On Monday, 64,757 new infections were reported to the public health institute RIVM in the 24 hours to 10am, but thousands of other cases have not been processed.

The rate of daily infections is increasing but the Omicron variant is considered milder than other variants of the coronavirus. This fact should make relaxation possible under certain conditions. The cabinet is ready to intervene if the situation changes.

[Sources: NOS & RTL Nieuws]

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