Restaurants and bars in Holland reopened on June 1, following on from hair salons and beauty parlours three weeks earlier.
I’m currently based in Utrecht, 25 minutes by train to Amsterdam, and surprisingly things have got back to ‘normal’ quickly, with bustling streets bringing a convivial atmosphere after months of being cooped up indoors.
On the beauty front, I haven’t made it to a hairdresser yet but I recently went for a pedicure.
The beauty salon looked much cleaner than when I’d visited pre-corona with the laminate flooring gleaming and plexiglass barriers dividing manicurists from the customers.
All of the beauticians were wearing face masks and gloves. To top things off my feet were massaged and washed with Dettol.
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At bars and restaurants, there are a number of mandatory measures in place to help protect customers from coronavirus.
Before eating or drinking out in the canal-strewn city, you must make a reservation in advance and give your contact details so if someone who has visited the premises develops coronavirus you can be informed and take necessary measures.
It is sometimes possible to make walk-in reservations, as long as you provide your details at the door and state that you have not had any coronavirus symptoms.
There’s 1.5 metre spacing between tables (as stipulated by the Dutch government) but it actually makes for a more pleasant dining experience as it’s less crowded.
A maximum of 30 guests are allowed inside venues but more can be seated in terraced areas.
Some restaurants, such as the French-inspired De Zakkendrager, have got a license for a garden area to create a terrace for the first time ever.
The owner says he is thrilled and hopes that he will be able to get a license for the garden terrace area next year too.
For guests both inside and outside De Zakkendrager, the tables are well spaced and there were plexiglass barriers to divide areas. Food and drinks are served to the table with no gloves worn.
Some restaurants have introduced more extreme measures.
Visiting a week after reopening, servers at Humphrey’s restaurant wore disposable gloves and plastic face visors like some kind of sci-fi film, but the manager said the visors were being scrapped the next day as they were difficult to work with and uncomfortable to wear.
At Mr Finch cocktail bar in Utrecht – which has done exceedingly well during the coronavirus lockdown with takeaway cocktails – bottles of hand sanitiser made by a Dutch distillery are put on the table along with some bar nuts.
Hand sanitiser has just become a part of everyday life and you must pump before entering all venues, high street shops included, and there are also bottles placed in bathrooms.
At venues with smaller toilet areas, such as the Villa Orloff restaurant in Utrecht, there is a ‘one person at a time’ rule, to ensure people can keep a safe distance.
On visiting one restaurant on the canal, safe distancing had been pushed to the maximum, with a bustling terrace area and large groups of people seated pretty close together.
Talking to Dutch friends, they agree that things ‘feel pretty much the same as before corona’ when it comes to beautifying, eating and drinking.
One said: ‘The only difference is that when you eat out now, tables are more spaced but this is a good thing. A bit more like private dining!’
A recent report revealed that the relaxation of the corona rules in the Netherlands has not led to a second wave or an increase in cases.
The most number of corona patients in one day was eight since June 1.
But Prof. Dr. Wallinga, who heads the unit for Infectious Disease Modelling at the RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment warned that ‘the virus has not left the country’.
He told Dutch news outlet AD this week: ‘The virus has not left the country, local outbreaks can start again.
‘As long as there are still people with Covid-19 in the Netherlands, letting go of these basic rules will irrevocably lead to a rapid increase in the number of infected persons. It is still necessary to keep your distance.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/24/spaced-dinner-tables-hand-sanitiser-cocktails-dettol-footbaths-beauty-spa-how-holland-post-corona-lockdown-12883964/
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