The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least

Special measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands are to be extended until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday. This means cafes, restaurants, museums and schools will remain shut for the next four weeks. The decision has been taken on the basis of expert advice, the prime minister said. ‘We realise we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,’ Rutte said. ‘The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves us with no other choice.’ ‘The good news is that we don’t have to bring in extra measures,’ the prime minister said. Measures currently in

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Special measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the Netherlands are to be extended until April 28 at least, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday. This means cafes, restaurants, museums and schools will remain shut for the next four weeks.

The decision has been taken on the basis of expert advice, the prime minister said. ‘We realize we are asking a lot of people, but it is really necessary,’ Rutte said. ‘The capacity in hospitals and intensive care units leaves us with no other choice.’ ‘The good news is that we don’t have to bring in extra measures,’ the prime minister said.

Measures currently in  effect, these measure means that schools will be closed until May 3, because the May school holidays start on April 25. Parents considering booking a holiday during the Easter or May break should not do so, the prime minister said.

‘There is a very real chance that we will have to extend the measures past April 28,’ Rutte said. ‘We don’t want people to travel all over the country, and after April 28 we certainly won’t be back the way we were.’ All sports events, including premier league football, are also cancelled until at least June 1, the current deadline for the ban on organized events.

Read more at: The Netherlands extends anti-corona measures to April 28, at least - DutchNews.nl

France - Presidential Elections: Gabriel warns of devious and dangerous Le Pen winning French presidential election

Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders - a devious destructive duo

Le Pen's National Front party "has set itself the aim of destroying Europe," Gabriel said in an interview for Thursday's edition of the German daily "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung."
"It has become a realistic danger," said Gabriel, a center-left Social Democrat.

If Le Pen does win the election, the idea of European unity would not disappear, Gabriel insisted. "But without France's engagement, Europe is certainly unimaginable in the long run," he went on. "First and foremost, the French would be the first to feel the effects of a so-called Frexit.

"Because the results of such uncertainty about Europe's future would be of course capital outflow, absent investments and mass unemployment," Gabriel said.

Macron remains the frontrunner in the election race, with 39 percent of those consulted in the latest survey by pollsters Ipsos giving him a favorable opinion. In the poll, Le Pen is the favorite to win the first round in April with 35 percent of the vote.

In the poll released by the magazine "Le Point" on Wednesday, Macron was followed by Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, with 38 percent, while former frontrunner Francois Fillon had fallen 18 percentage points to 25 percent, just behind Le Pen, at 26 percent.

Read more: Gabriel warns of Le Pen winning French presidential election | News | DW.COM | 15.02.2017