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Rutte says lifting curfew and opening outdoor cafes is 'responsible risk'

The Dutch government has announced the ‘first cautious steps’ towards ending the coronavirus lockdown by lifting the curfew, allowing more home visits and opening up bars and cafes in the daytime. Caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte said the moves were ‘risky but responsible’ now that the peak of infections is coming into view, but stressed the need to abide by the basic social distancing rules. ‘Not a huge amount has changed, but just enough,’ Rutte said. ‘Tensions are high but... More >

Dutch start using the Janssen vaccine

The Netherlands will begin using the single-dose Janssen coronavirus vaccine from Wednesday, focusing on front line healthcare workers and people living in small psychiatric institutions. On Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency said that while rare blood clots and low platelet levels should be included in the official list of possible side effects, the advantages of using the vaccine outweighed the disadvantages. Unlike the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has similar very rare side effects, the Janssen vaccine will be used on people... More >

Coronavirus in NL: what you need to know

Relaxing some of the coronavirus rules is a responsible approach, despite the current high rate of new infections, prime minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday. Here’s a round up of the latest measures. Curfew The curfew, introduced on January 23, will be scrapped from the morning of April 28. Travel The government continues to advise against all foreign travel up to May 15, unless there is a very compelling work or family reason. From that date, compulsory quarantine is due... More >

Parents of rioter, 13, face €18,000 bill

The parents of a 13-year-old boy who was involved in the Eindhoven riots at the start of the curfew earlier this year have been ordered to pay €18,000 in compensation for the damage he helped cause. The youngster was caught throwing stones through the windows of the railway station and plundering a Jumbo supermarket in the station precinct. The teenager himself was given 35 hours junior community service, local broadcaster Omroep Brabant reported. Last month, a 17-year-old from Eindhoven was... More >

Record number of reports of discrimination

The Dutch human rights watchdog College voor de Rechten van de Mens received a record number of requests for a ruling about possible racism and discrimination last year, its annual discrimination monitor shows. The watchdog, which can adjudicate in cases where people claim they have been discriminated against by government agencies, received 638 requests for an investigation compared to 535 the year before. Some 144 concerned discrimination based on race, up 48 compared to 2019. Complaints made to the agency... More >

New parents get nine weeks paid leave

New parents will get nine weeks of partly paid leave from August 2, 2022 to give more of them time to make decisions about how to balance their lives with children, the social affairs ministry has confirmed. The measure had already been decided on by the cabinet last year and now MPs have given it the green light as well. New parents are entitled to 26 weeks of paternity leave in the first eight years of their child’s life but... More >

T Rex's secret is in the tail

Tyrannosaurus Rex was not very quick when walking the earth 70 million years ago but its tail made it very efficient, new Dutch research has found. Movement sciences student Pasha van Bijlert teamed up with the Naturalis biodiversity centre to ascertain how quickly one of the biggest dinosaurs discovered to date moved about. The tail of the animal played an important role, Bijlert said. ‘It weighed nearly 1,000 kilos and was held up by ligaments. Ligaments act like a rubber... More >

No increase in suicide rate in 2020

There was no real increase in the number of suicides in the Netherlands last year, despite fears about the impact of coronavirus on mental health, preliminary figures from national statistics agency CBS published on Wednesday show. In total, 1,229 men and 596 women ended their lives last year, or an average of five people per day. Translated into suicides per 100,000 members of the population, the figures have been stable for three years, the CBS said. Psychologists had warned early... More >

CBS to ditch 'western' and 'non-western'

National statistics agency CBS has confirmed it is to stop using the terms ‘western’ and ‘non-western’ to describe immigrants because they are ‘divisive’ and ‘set people apart’, the NRC reported on Tuesday. The paper cites a policy recommendation document from the WRR, a key government advisory body, which it has in its possession. The document, which will be presented to the government shortly, says government agencies should no longer make the distinction because it ‘lacks scientific grounds’ and has ‘negative... More >

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