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Additional restrictions as communicated yesterday by the Dutch authorities do not only affect those living in the Netherlands, but also affect employees who have yet to come from abroad.
We have summarized the main items of the announced measures below.
Extensive information can be found in English via
https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2021/01/20/lockdown-measures-tightened-in-response-to-concerns-about-new-variants-of-virus
Additional travel restrictions
Every trip increases the chance of more infections or of bringing new variants of the corona virus to the Netherlands. That is why the urgent advice for those living in the Netherlands is: stay in the Netherlands. Do not travel and do not book trips that take place up to and including March 31.
Bans on flying (as of Saturday 23th January 2021: 0:01 hr)
The cabinet is taking additional measures to prevent the import of new variants of the virus via travelers and to further limit the number of travel movements.
This flight ban applies for a maximum of one month, or until the intended mandatory quarantine for travelers has been legally regulated.
Test Policy ((as of Saturday 23th January 2021: 0:01 hr)
In addition, all travelers from high-risk areas who come to the Netherlands by plane or ship must also be able to show a negative rapid test taken just before departure to the Netherlands. This test is a maximum of 4 hours old upon boarding. This is in addition to the already mandatory negative PCR test, which must be taken no more than 72 hours before arrival.
These measures also apply to travelers to the Caribbean Netherlands. In addition, they must be quarantined for 10 days upon arrival in the Netherlands. After 5 days someone can get tested. If the result of this PCR test is negative, the quarantine ends.
Because rapid tests are not available everywhere in the vicinity of ports and airports, it is expected in practice that the double test obligation will lead to a decrease in the number of journeys to our country. That means it will be difficult for some people to get home. Dutch citizens who have to travel to the Netherlands due to an emergency and cannot submit a negative PCR / rapid test in time, can report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Entry ban expanded (outside EU) (as of Saturday 23th January 2021: 0:01 hr)
For certain groups of travelers from countries outside the EU, an entry ban has been in place since March 2020. The cabinet has decided to shorten the list of exceptions to this ban.
This means that business travelers, students, highly skilled migrants, professionals from the cultural and creative sector and long-distance partners who come for short stays are no longer allowed to enter the Netherlands.
Quarantine obligation (additional information will follow)
Curfew
Note: The House of Representatives has yet to consider the cabinet’s proposal to introduce a curfew.
More information will become available on this page after approval by the House of Representatives.
The cabinet proposes to introduce a curfew within days of the consent of the House of Representatives. It is then the intention that everyone stays indoors from 8.30 pm to 4.30 am. It is forbidden to be on the street without a valid reason. This is a heavy corona measure on top of the current lockdown to prevent the reception of visitors and encounters in groups.
Stay at home Policy
Stay at home, work at home and meet as few others as possible The purpose of the lockdown is to have as few contacts as possible. Because the fewer contacts, the less infections. Staying at home is the best way to limit contacts. Only go outside for groceries, (medical) care for yourself, for others or for animals, a breath of fresh air and education or work if that is really not possible at home. Limiting contacts also means not meeting others too often. Stay in touch with others by phone or video call. If you do receive visitors, the cabinet strongly advises to receive a maximum of one guest aged 13 or older per day. Also, don’t visit anywhere more than once a day. These measures help to prevent the spread of virus. But meeting fewer people is of course tough, for everyone. Therefore, pay extra attention to people around you, especially people who are ill, lonely or have psychological complaints. In principle, everyone works at home.
Only people who are essential to the progress of a business process and who cannot perform their work at home are allowed to come to work. That means: a bus driver goes to work, an office worker works completely from home.
