Dutch shopkeepers say they have been “broken” by the Netherlands’ new Christmas lockdown, which has come into effect.
“Nowhere in Europe is there such a strict regime as in the Netherlands,” said Jan Meerman, the director of INretail, the Dutch retailers association.
He added: “From a health perspective, I understand that something needs to be done, but then it is important that the cabinet also makes a grand financial gesture and generously reimburses entrepreneurs. As far as we are concerned, 100% compensation. Many colleagues are still heavily indebted from the first lockdowns, they can’t take this any more … They are broken by these harsh measures.”
As of Sunday, all non-essential stores, bars and restaurants in the country are closed until at least 14 January, and schools and universities shut until 9 January.
In a devastating blow to many Christmas plans, households are allowed only four visitors a day on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and 31 January and New Year’s Day. Two visitors are permitted on other days.
The announcement on Saturday night by the prime minister, Mark Rutte, who had described the lockdown as “unavoidable” due to the wave of the Omicron Covid variant “bearing down”, came ahead of what would be the biggest sales week for many shops.
There had been a rush to do last-minute Christmas shopping in many Dutch cities on Saturday night as people became aware of the impending deadline. But the retailers organisation warned that “soon everyone will be going shopping in Belgium and Germany, where everything is open as usual”.
The Dutch government provides financial support in the form of compensation for fixed costs where there is 30% loss in turnover in a quarter compared to the previous year and wage support where there is a 20% loss.
But Gonny Eussen of the hairdressers’ union, Anko, said the enforcement of the lockdown late into the quarter would leave businesses unable to claim compensation despite losing their best financial weeks.
She said: “For the support packages, don’t look at the turnover per quarter, but per month. Because now an important part of December is gone, but we did generate turnover for the rest of the fourth quarter. As a result, many entrepreneurs are probably not eligible for support, even though they miss out on the best weeks.”
Across Europe, governments are contemplating tougher restrictions in the light of the spread of the Omicron Covid variant, including in Italy.
In Belgium, where thousands of protesters demonstrated in central Brussels on Sunday for a third time against further restrictions, Christie Morreale, the minister for health in the Walloon region of Belgium, could only say a further lockdown was “not on the table for the government at this stage”.
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called on his country to keep its guard up as the Omicron variant spread and as the number of cases per 100,000 people in Spain rose to 511.
“Although the incidence is still lower than in neighbouring countries, it isn’t good because it’s a clear and real warning of the threat to the health of our fellow Spaniards, and as such it must compel us to intensify our actions as the virus grows,” Sánchez said in a televised address on Sunday morning.
In the Netherlands, Boris van der Ham, from the Association of Free Theatre Producers (VVTP), said his sector had already resigned itself to a miserable Christmas period following a decision on 27 November to force hospitality to shut at 5pm.
He said: “The biggest blow fell two weeks ago when the evening lockdown was announced. Performances cannot simply be moved to the afternoon.”
Maurice Limmen, the president of the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences, said the higher education sector recognised the need for the closure of institutions but Loes Ypma, from the organisation representing childcare, said she was concerned.
She said: “The closure of schools and out-of-school care has emotional consequences for all children, especially children in a vulnerable situation. Children deserve a safe place, school and out-of-school care is that for many.”
The European Commission said on Sunday it had reached an agreement with BioNTech and Pfizer for an extra 20m doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to be delivered to EU member states in the first quarter of 2022.
These doses were in addition to a scheduled delivery of 195m doses, bringing the total number of Pfizer/BioNTech doses to be delivered in the first quarter to 215 million, a commission statement said.