Dutch retailers furious over lockdown

The lockdown that is in force in the Netherlands since yesterday, can count on little understanding from retailers. Branch organisation INretail is baffled and pleads for more “intelligent measures”. What will Belgium decide on Wednesday?

“Unnecessary measures”

The new lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Saturday evening. In order to slow down the advance of the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus, his government decided to almost completely lock down the Netherlands once again. As a result, all non-essential shops and restaurants have had to remain closed since yesterday, until at least mid-January. Only so-called essential shops, such as supermarkets, pet shops, opticians and drugstores, can remain open.

INretail reacted in disbelief to the strict measures of the cabinet. “It is shameful when unnecessary measures are announced that again give entrepreneurs a gigantic blow,” it said in Trouw. The retail trade association would have preferred a “more intelligent approach” to the crisis, referring to countries such as Denmark and Norway. “They take phased measures and boost day and night.” INretail fears that the Dutch will now start shopping in Belgium and Germany en masse.

That this fear is not entirely unfounded was demonstrated yesterday in Antwerp. It was very busy on the Meir and among the Christmas shoppers there were remarkably many Dutch. Turnhout and Maasmechelen were also much busier than usual.

And in Belgium?

Of course, the question now arises as to what will happen in Belgium, since the omicron variant is also gaining momentum there. Is the country heading for a new lockdown, following the example of the Netherlands? Next Wednesday, a new Consultation Committee is on the agenda. According to Walloon Health Minister Christie Morreale, a lockdown is not currently on the table. “We are better equipped than the Netherlands. Yet we can see what is coming: the omnicron variant is much more contagious,” she says in newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.

“What people do in the Netherlands, they do very much out of precaution,” says virologist Steven Van Gucht. “And it comes at a high cost. By the way, omicron will also be there on 14 January, when the Netherlands wants to abandon its lockdown. I plead for measures that we can maintain for a long time.” Everyone agrees on one thing: there will be no relaxation of the current measures.