Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announces that stricter restrictions are being introduced to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The message was tough in a television address on Monday night: lockdown.

”The Netherlands will close for five weeks,” Rutte said from the Prime Minister’s Office in The Hague.

He urged citizens to stay home, not travel unnecessarily, and not travel abroad until mid-March.

Mark Rutte had also invited all party leaders in parliament for talks. An unusual move, reports the ANP news agency.

The new restrictions are expected to include closures of shops and schools. In addition, public activities, such as museums, cinemas and zoos, will be closed.

Not all Dutch people are happy with the restrictions, demonstrators gathered outside Rutte's office and blew whistles in protest.

In the Netherlands, which has a population of around 17 million, just over 10,000 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported during the pandemic.

Source: TT