Germany- Coronavirus restrictions: Germany announces end to most COVID restrictions on March 20

Germany's leaders on Wednesday announced plans to end most of the country's coronavirus restrictions by March 20, a decision that coincided with moves by neighboring Austria and Switzerland to drop many of their curbs sooner.

Read more at: Germany announces end to most COVID restrictions on March 20 - ABC News

The Netherlands: Dutch cabinet to discuss COVID-19 rules as OMT advises further relaxations

The government’s decision to leave a number of lockdown measures in place at the last press conference was met with much controversy and various protests and demonstrations across the Netherlands. Now, however, less than two weeks later, the outlook appears to be more positive and Prime Minister Mark Rutte is optimistic about lifting various COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday.

The OMT is also feeling more hopeful, with the latest report from medical experts advising the Dutch government to reopen the hospitality and cultural industries, albeit with an enforced closing time of 8pm.

Sources in The Hague have suggested that Rutte and Health Minister Ernst Kuipers will opt to open restaurants, museums, theatres, and cinemas, with an enforced closing time of 10pm. With these venues reopening, the government will also reintroduce the use of coronavirus certificates.

Read more at: Dutch cabinet to discuss COVID-19 rules as OMT advises further relaxations

The Netherlands: Inside the surreal Dutch lockdown - by Senay Boztas

Sitting respectfully in our ‘pews’, we put our hands together… and clap. This is not a service but a comedy night. And Amsterdam’s newest ‘church’ is really a theatre for debate and cultural centre in disguise. Incensed by the illogical nature of the current Dutch coronavirus restrictions, Yoeri Albrecht, director of De Balie, last week changed the statutes of his organisation and registered it with the chamber of commerce as a faith-based movement: overnight, The Philosophical Society; the Community of Reason was born.

It is unlikely to be the last. His example, a group of Dutch mayors predicted wryly in an open letter to the government, is likely to mark the start of “an unprecedented religious revival in the coming weeks”.

The Netherlands has been in partial or full lockdown since November, primarily due to the pressure of patients with the Delta variant on the hospital system and one of Europe’s least efficient booster campaigns. But just over a week ago, the restrictions were loosened — albeit in a strikingly surreal fashion.

Read More at: Inside the surreal Dutch lockdown - UnHerd

Germany: COVID and diplomacy will challenge the German government in 2022

The most important issue facing Germans as 2022 begins is the same as a year ago: the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is one key difference: Back then, the upcoming vaccination campaign still gave hope that the end would soon be in sight.

But one year and well over 100 million vaccine doses later, the number of new infections in Germany is substantially higher than it was at the start of 2021.

In order to get more people to get vaccinated, the government could soon implement a universal vaccine mandate. That would mean politicians across the board would be guilty of breaking a promise, with former Christian Democrat Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Social Democrat successor Olaf Scholz and Free Democrat leader Christian Lindner, now finance minister, all previously ruling out such a move.

Read more art: COVID and diplomacy will challenge the German government in 2022 | Germany | News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 01.01.2022

Europe: COVID in Europe: UK deaths pass 150,000 as Germany plans to further restrict bars and restaurants

Europe is once again seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases — here is our summary of the measures being taken across the continent.

Several nations have been reporting record numbers of new daily cases, the increase compounded by the emergence of the new Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa.

Some countries have taken steps targeting the unvaccinated, while programmes are also being rolled out to vaccinate young children. United Kingdom

Read more at: COVID in Europe: UK deaths pass 150,000 as Germany plans to further restrict bars and restaurants | Euronews

Netherlands Announces Plan To Give People Up to Six Doses of COVID Vaccine

Hugo de Jonge, health minister of The Netherlands, has indicated the country could be preparing another three coronavirus booster vaccines.

De Jonge wrote a letter to his country's parliament Wednesday suggesting the Netherlands should consider additional rounds of booster vaccines to fight new variants, with two of these in 2022 and another shot in 2023.

Read more at: Netherlands Announces Plan To Give People Up to Six Doses of COVID Vaccine

The Netherlands: Omicron now dominant in NL, new coronavirus cases fall 11% in a week

The Omicron variant of coronavirus is now dominant in the Netherlands, public health institute RIVM said on Tuesday. The variant now accounts for over than 50% of new cases, the RIVM said in its latest weekly update. The number of positive coronavirus cases reported to the RIVM fell 11% to 84,400 in the past week, but experts say this is likely to rise as Omicron spreads.

Read more at: Omicron now dominant in NL, new coronavirus cases fall 11% in a week - DutchNews.nl

: EU: The Netherlands and Australia find the omicron variant as curbs spread

The Netherlands confirmed 13 cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus on Sunday and Australia found two as the countries half a world apart became the latest to detect it in travelers arriving from southern Africa.

A raft of curbs being imposed by nations around the world as they scramble to slow the variant's spread also grew, with Israel deciding Sunday to bar entry to foreign nationals in the toughest move so far.

Confirmed or suspected cases of the new variant have already emerged in several European countries, in Israel and in Hong Kong, just days after it was identified by researchers in South Africa. The "act first, ask questions later" approach reflected growing alarm about the emergence of a potentially more contagious variant nearly two years into a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people, upended lives and disrupted economies across the globe.

Read more at: The Netherlands and Australia find the omicron variant as curbs spread : NPR

COVID in Europe: Denmark reports jump in Omicron cases as Belgium protest ends in clashes

COVID-19 cases are sweeping Europe once again — here is a breakdown of how each country has reacted to the surge.

Measures vary across the continent — from a national lockdown in Austria and moves towards mandatory vaccination in Germany, to the United Kingdom where only light restrictions are in place.

Read more at: COVID in Europe: Denmark reports jump in Omicron cases as Belgium protest ends in clashes | Euronews

Coronavirus: Omicron was in Netherlands before South Africa raised alarm about new coronavirus variant - Perry Stein

The omicron variant had a foothold in multiple countries in Europe before travel restrictions were imposed, new genetic sequencing data has revealed.

Dutch officials said Tuesday that they had detected the variant, with its unusually high number of mutations, in a sample collected on Nov. 19 and another on Nov. 23 — well before Dutch authorities panicked over two flights from South Africa carrying infected passengers.

The earliest known cases are still from southern Africa. The first identified samples were collected Nov. 9, from a 34-year-old man and a 23-year-old man in Johannesburg, according to the GISAID global database. On Nov. 11, five

Read more at: Omicron was in Netherlands before South Africa raised alarm about new coronavirus variant - The Washington Post

COVID in Europe: Netherlands closes all non-essential businesses at 5pm

COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in various parts of Europe as the cold weather has affected the spread of the virus.

Countries on the Old Continent are attempting to curb the spike through various means - from a national lockdown in Austria, to limiting access to certain services elsewhere or pushing for an increase in vaccination rates.

Around 60% of people in Western Europe are fully immunised against COVID-19, but only about half as many are vaccinated in Eastern Europe.

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/26/covid-19-spike-felt-across-europe-as-vaccination-remains-stagnant

EU-Coronavirus: Europe′s fight against the coronavirus

Up until this past weekend, the Dutch soccer club SC Cambuur Leeuwarden was making the kinds of headlines everyone wants. The team got off to an excellent start in the country's first league, and was about to host FC Utrecht for the week's top match. That's when unvaccinated supporters who were prohibited from entering the stadium because of coronavirus restrictions turned violent and stormed the field. The match was almost canceled after they stormed the pitch and launched fireworks.

And Leeuwarden wasn't an isolated case. There were also reports of violence and rioting against COVID-19 restrictions in Enschede, Groningen, The Hague and in Rotterdam for the third night in a row. Rioters threw stones at police, vandalized streets and set cars ablaze. According to local authorities, more than 140 people were arrested.

Read more at: Europe′s fight against the coronavirus | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 24.11.2021

Netherlands: EU wants calm amid virus protests; rioters called 'idiots'

In the face of demonstrations across much of Europe protesting tough COVID-19 measures over the past days, authorities on Monday pleaded for patience, calm and a willingness to get a vaccine shot in the arm as infections spike upward again.

And for those who abused the protests to foment violence, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte just called them “idiots.”

Protest marches from Zagreb to Rome and from Vienna to Brussels and Rotterdam, bringing tens of thousands out, all had one message from a coronavirus-weary crowd — we’ve had enough!

“Not able to work where you want work, to be where you want to be. That’s not what we stand for, that’s not freedom,” said Eveline Denayer, who was at Sunday’s march in Brussels, which drew a crowd of over 35,000.

“We live in Western Europe and we just want to be free, how we were before,” she said.

Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-riots-netherlands-rotterdam-445b8e7e0b3c53081d6525c83dc4dbca

The Netherlands:Rotterdam police open fire as Covid protest turns into ‘orgy of violence’

In what the Dutch city’s mayor described as an “orgy of violence”, crowds of several hundred rioters orched cars, set off fireworks and threw rocks at police during the protests on Friday evening. Police responded with warning shots and water cannon.

Police said on Twitter on Saturday that 51 people had been arrested, about half of whom were under 18.

“Three rioters were wounded when they were hit by bullets, they remain in hospital,” police added, in an update after earlier reporting two wounded.

Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/19/the-netherlands-rotterdam-police-open-fire-as-covid-protest-turns-violent?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Covid 19 medicines/vaccines: EU authorizes 2 medicines for people at risk of severe COVID-19

The European Medicines Agency has recommended the authorization of two new medicines against the coronavirus for people at risk of severe disease.

In a statement on Thursday, the EU drug regulator said it had concluded that the monoclonal antibody treatments -- a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab, and the drug regdanvimab -- have both been proven to significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in patients vulnerable to serious COVID-19.

Read more at: EU authorizes 2 medicines for people at risk of severe COVID-19 | CTV News

The Netherlands: COVID-19: Dutch hospitals sound alarm as eastern Europe reports record daily deaths

Hospitals in the southern Dutch province of Limburg warned the government on Tuesday that they can no longer cope with new COVID-19 patients.

"We are heading straight for a healthcare blockage and the entire system is grinding to a standstill," five hospitals in the border province said.

"We are convinced that other parts of the Netherlands will soon follow," they added in a statement.

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/09/covid-19-dutch-hospitals-sound-alarm-as-eastern-europe-reports-record-daily-deaths

The Netherlands: Coronavirus in the Netherlands: what changes on Saturday November 6

Masks will once again be compulsory in all public buildings where coronavirus passes are not required. This includes: Supermarkets and shops Libraries Government buildings and council offices Airports and railway stations Colleges and universities when moving between locations People in contact professions, such as hairdressers, will again have to wear masks, but not sex workers. Those who do not wear a mask can be fined €95. Masks remain compulsory in taxis and on public transport.

Read more at: Coronavirus in the Netherlands: what changes on Saturday - DutchNews.nl

Germany: COVID: Germany to offer booster shots for all

All people in Germany will eventually be offered a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine six months after receiving their previous injection, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday.

The measure had been agreed with regional health ministers, Spahn said.

"This should become the norm, not the exception," Spahn added.

Read more at: COVID: Germany to offer booster shots for all | News | DW | 05.11.2021

Germany: COVID: Germany cases hit record daily high

Germany registered a record number of COVID-19 cases on Thursday, breaking a record set in December 2020. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country's disease control agency, reported 33,949 new infections in a single day.

The news came a day after Health Minister Jens Spahn declared that Germany was living in a "pandemic of the unvaccinated" and that the fourth wave of the virus was "in full force" across the country.

Read more at: COVID: Germany cases hit record daily high | News | DW | 04.11.2021

The Netherlands: Dutch government looking at reintroducing COVID-19 measures

The Dutch government is seeking advice from a panel of experts on whether it needs to reintroduce COVID-19 restrictions amid sharply rising infection rates, the health minister said Monday.

The Netherlands has one of the fastest-rising infection rates in Europe. The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases increased over the past two weeks from 13.43 new cases per 100,000 people to 29.27 new cases per 100,000 people on Oct. 24.

Read more at: Dutch government looking at reintroducing COVID-19 measures