Regional bus drivers strike; Van Dissel weighs in on Covid-19 measures

Despite a spike in hospital admissions of around 50 patients per day, RIVM director and Outbreak Management Team (OMT) chair Jaap van Dissel said it is too early to predict what measures may be needed. He reminded people to follow basic rules such as staying at home and self-testing if they have symptoms, according to De Gelderlander.

Farmers held demonstrations against the Cabinet’s nitrogen plans in several places in the country on Friday evening. They parked tractors at entrances and exits of roads, including some highways. They also left a straw bale on a road near the home of Minister Christianne van der Wal (Nitrogen and Nature), a spokesperson for the East Netherlands police said.

KLM said it fears that the survival of its network as we know it today will be jeopardized by the Cabinet’s decision to downsize Schiphol. It called a new proposal from The Hague to cut over 12 percent of flights from the airport “dramatic,” and pointed out that the function of both Schiphol as a hub, and KLM itself, will be strongly undermined.

The Cabinet will come up with a course of action to combat the shortage of workers personnel, including unspecified “further measures.” But most plans will only take effect in the future, with new policies enacted by the government expected to remain in place for a longer period of time. The shortage on the labor market will still be felt for quite some time as a result.