Dutch government eases lockdown, but not for hospitality

By ALEKSANDAR FURTULA and MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

VALKENBURG, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government has eased its coronavirus lockdown, allowing non-essential stores, universities, sports clubs and “contact businesses” like hairdressers to reopen for the first time in nearly a month. But while many businesses can open Saturday until 5 p.m., bars, restaurants, museums and theaters will remain shut as COVID-19 cases rise steeply. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he understood “that it feels completely unfair” to the hospitality and cultural sectors that remain closed. The discontent led shops, bars and restaurants in a southern Dutch town to open earlier Friday in a protest action that underscored growing anger at weeks of coronavirus lockdown measures.