The hearing came on a crunch day for the Netherlands’ anti-Covid measures with the senate set to vote on a fast-track law that would reinstate the curfew. — AFP picTHE HAGUE, Feb 19 — The Dutch government asked appeals judges today to overturn a court order scrapping a coronavirus curfew, comparing the pandemic to waters overwhelming the low-lying country’s famed dykes.
Government lawyer Reimer Veldhuis said that the curfew was introduced on January 23 to stop a “worrisome” surge of Covid-19 cases due to a new variant first found in Britain. Judges have allowed the 9pm to 4:30am curfew, the first in the Netherlands since the Nazi occupation in World War II, to remain in effect pending the outcome of Friday’s hearing.The case was launched by Covid-sceptic group Virus Truth, which has organised a series of protests via social media against coronavirus restrictions.