Rutte held emergency meetings on Monday about the soaring rate of COVID-19 infections and took the unusual step of inviting the heads of all political parties in parliament to join the talks. He was expected to announce the tighter lockdown measures in a rare television address to the country, broadcast from his office at 1900 local time (1800GMT). This would make the lockdown stricter than the one imposed during the first COVID-19 wave between March and May, when schools were closed but shops could open. New coronavirus infections in the country of 17 million increased by around 8,500 in the 24 hours through Monday morning, data released by national health authorities showed. The Netherlands has recorded more than 600,000 cases and 10,000 deaths during the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: bd News24 December 14, 2020 13:41 UTC