Due to the rapidly increasing number of infections, the Netherlands is again restricting part of public life.
This was announced by Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday evening in The Hague.
As of Saturday, restaurants and supermarkets must close at 8 p.m., other shops at 6 p.m.
The 1.5 meter distance rule will be reintroduced, and citizens should invite a maximum of four other people into a private household.
Sports events should take place without an audience.
The restrictions should initially apply for three weeks.
Thomas Gutschker
Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.
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Cinemas and theaters are excluded from the shutdown.
Visitors just have to prove - as before - that they have been vaccinated, tested or recovered.
It wasn't until the end of September that the country relaxed most of the rules.
On Thursday, the country recorded 16,300 new infections in 24 hours, a new high since the coronavirus outbreak.
The previous record of 13,000 came from December.
The hospitals, in which there are proportionally fewer intensive care beds than in other EU countries, warn of overload.
In the Netherlands, 82 percent of residents over the age of twelve are vaccinated against the coronavirus, one of the highest rates in the EU.
Booster vaccinations are planned from December onwards.