Dutch museums close as government moves to contain coronavirus

Two of the premier tourist attractions in the Netherlands, the Rijmsmuseum national gallery and Van Gogh museum, closed their doors to the public on Thursday as a government ban on gatherings of more than 100 people was imposed in response to the coronavirus epidemic.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte went on live television to explain the rare step, which will also trigger the cancellation of soccer matches, concerts and university lectures across the country of 17 million. They were the most far-reaching measures yet in the Netherlands, where the number of new coronavirus infections rose 22% from a day earlier to 614. Five people have died.

Rutte said people who could work at home should do so and companies should alternate staffing to reduce a further spread of infections. People with respiratory symptoms must stay home. The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum, which attract millions of annual visitors to the Dutch capital, said they would shut their doors at the end of Thursday to comply.

Rutte said schools would remain open for now. The measures will remain in place at least until March 31. A balanced approach is aimed at minimising disruptions to public life, while reducing the risks for vulnerable groups, Rutte said. "An important goal of the phased approach is to prevent such a peak in infections that would result in the hospitals being overwhelmed," Rutte said.

But "closing schools would contribute very little to combating the crisis", because infection rates in the education system have been low, he said. The heightened precautions came at a "a possible turning point" in the COVID-19 epidemic in the Netherlands, said Jaap van Dissel, the head of the Dutch Centre for Infectious Disease Control.

He said that difficulty in tracing the origin of the virus in cases in the southern province of Noord-Brabant, as well as some in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, made "it necessary to advise additional measures". "So we have reached the phase in some parts of the Netherlands, especially in Brabant as has been said, in which we're tipping" from a containment phase to a mitigation phase, he said.

Elderly people were advised to avoid groups and public transport. Universities were told to hold classes online when possible, while medical staff were instructed not to travel abroad.