Warning! New COVID-19 restrictions in the Netherlands

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Since last week, all restaurants in the Netherlands are closed for the evening. This also applies to premises on motorways.

The Dutch authorities decided last week that all catering establishments must be closed at 10 p.m. At 9 p.m., they cannot serve new customers. This measure associated with the coronavirus pandemic also applies to roadside restaurants.

Some of the premises, however, meet the needs of professional drivers who need to eat on international routes. For example, Roadhouse De Raket on the A28 north of Zwolle announced that it will take orders from drivers between 9.00 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. via WhatsApp. However, truckers will have to dine in the cabin of their vehicle. At the same time, the restaurant stresses that toilets will be available around the clock, according to the Dutch transport portal bigtruck.nl.

Another roadside restaurant, Malden, on the A73 south of Nijmegen, asked the truckers to sign a petition requesting an exception to the new restrictions for professional drivers.

The coronavirus pandemic is a fact, and as a society, we must do everything we can to overcome it – acting together and with common sense. The restrictions introduced on 29 September make us suspect that a large, important group of professional drivers is being ignored,” say the restaurant managers.

As a reminder, a similar measure was introduced in Spain at the beginning of the pandemic. At that time, all catering facilities and accommodation infrastructure were closed, which triggered protests from the transport industry, among others. The authorities gave in to pressure from transport organisations and made part of the premises available throughout the country to professional drivers and other critical professional groups during the pandemic.

Photo credit @ Pixabay

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