Covid-19 – In the Netherlands, confinement goes badly: “I could not make my Christmas presents”

The streets remained hopelessly empty on Sunday a few days before Christmas in central Amsterdam; a few passers-by observing with a nostalgic air the windows of closed stores, on the first day of confinement imposed on the Netherlands in the face of a new wave of Covid-19 and the spread of the Omicron variant.

Some still find it hard to believe it. As these passers-by questioned by the TF1 8pm news in front of a bookstore: “Nobody agrees with that of course, it’s a shame”, launches a retiree in the video at the top of this article. “It disappoints me because I have the impression that we will never see the light at the end of the tunnel”, adds a young girl, while a resident says “to be speechless”, so great was the surprise.

It must be said that the decision was announced Saturday evening by Prime Minister Mark Rutte for application in stride. A confinement that still allows you to go out and walk, but on the other hand, only so-called essential businesses can open. Which, with the approach of the holidays, does not suit many people. “I couldn’t get my Christmas presents and I’m not the only one. There won’t be many presents under the tree”, regrets Sanders, for example. When others clearly express weariness: “It’s really sad to have to be confined again, but we can’t do anything, it’s the government’s choice”, advances another inhabitant in the 1pm newscast (video below).

This announcement also caught the merchants by surprise, who very quickly had to organize themselves with the great return of Clic and Collect in all stores. A necessity for Sylvie Louvet, a Frenchwoman living in Amsterdam for twenty years. It is during this period that its perfumery achieves a very large part of its turnover. “We will organize ourselves. It will go well, we hope, but it is not pleasant. Four days before Christmas, the authorities could have waited until January. We are not within ten days”, she says.

Yet this is what the country’s health authorities believe. Admittedly, the latest figures for the epidemic are better, with 15,000 positive cases per day, against 20,000 a week ago. However, the threat from the Omicron variant is too great and most hospitals are already overcrowded. “It’s good. For once, we act before it is a disaster. Especially since few people have received the third dose. We must be careful,” thinks a resident for her part.

In the meantime, we must avoid groupings indoors, except on Christmas Eve, where it will be possible to accommodate four people at home. A meager consolation prize to accept confinement that will last until minimum January 14.