Amsterdam cancels all New Year celebrations due to increased coronavirus infections

The municipality of Amsterdam canceled this Monday all the New Year’s Eve celebrations organized by the city council, including the national countdown and fireworks shows, due to the “gloomy” outlook left by the high rate of daily infections and hospitalizations due to coronavirus.

The alcaldesa Femke Halsema decided to suppress both the central celebration in Museumplein, where the national countdown to the beginning of the new year is called, as well as the different musical shows and fireworks in the different districts of the city.

“Due to the rapid increase in the number of infections and hospital admissions, and the additional restrictions, the outlook is grim. Given that it is very uncertain how things will go, and we already have to make significant investments for these shows, it is not responsible to continue with the preparations ”, argued the city council.

The fireworks shows organized by the municipality sought to be an alternative to the pyrotechnics used individually by citizens, which is mostly prohibited as of this year.

Infections in the Netherlands have skyrocketed since the Dutch government decided to end social distancing at the end of September in exchange for the use of the pass covid-19.

This Monday, the Institute of Public Health (RIVM) reported 19,274 new infections in 24 hours, breaking a previous record in almost 3,000 new cases, some positive ones that represent 19.2% of all the tests that are being carried out .

The positives documented in the last hours also include some test results carried out over the weekend, which were delayed due to technical problems, although problems also arose this Monday because the test centers in large cities ran out of capacity for new appointments.

Meanwhile, the rate of vaccination in the Netherlands remains stagnant. 82.4% of those over 12 years of age already have the complete regimen, and 85.9% have at least one dose, although it is believed that around 13% of the population do not plan to be vaccinated at the moment for reasons that vary. from skepticism towards vaccine safety to religious motives.

The Government has already limited the participation in social life of the unvaccinated or those who have not passed the covid-19, and currently requires them to undergo a test to be able to access the hotel industry, cultural and musical events, gyms or the swimming pools, among other places of public access.

However, this approach does not seem to be working when it comes to reducing hospital pressure and the increase in infections, so the Executive is trying to bet on the 2G policy, which involves granting a valid covid pass only to those people with complete regimen or who have recovered from the illness caused by the coronavirus.

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