<p>THE HAGUE, Netherlands &mdash; The Dutch government on Tuesday presented a roadmap for relaxing coronavirus lockdown measures, but caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte stressed that it is still too early to ease restrictions.</p>
<p>In a nationally televised press conference, Rutte said hospitals in the Netherlands are as crowded with COVID-19 patients now as they were during the first wave of the pandemic last year and that it would be irresponsible to relax the country’s months-long lockdown now.</p>
<p>The government had previously said it hoped the first relaxation could have started April 21, but Rutte said that was too soon.</p>
<p>“The reality is that the end is in sight, the reality that society can reopen again in a responsible way. We will take the first step when the peak of the third wave has passed,” Rutte said. </p>
<p>Earlier Tuesday, the Dutch public health institute said the number of new coronavirus infections rose 6% over the past week to 51,240, with the largest increase in positive tests recorded among children aged 13-17 years.</p>
<p>The increase comes despite the months-long tough lockdown in the Netherlands including a nighttime curfew, closed bars and restaurants and shuttered public institutions like museums and zoos.</p>
<p>The number of coronavirus new patients admitted to intensive care units edged slightly higher compared to a week earlier to 386, while the number of people confirmed to have died of COVID-19 over the last week rose to 174, bringing the Dutch death toll in the pandemic to more than 16,800.</p>
<p>Rutte said the first easing could possibly happen April 28 but stressed that it would depend on hospital admissions starting to decline.</p>
<p>Under the first step, Dutch open-air cafes and bars would reopen under strict conditions, the nationwide 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. curfew would be lifted and the number of visitors people are allowed to welcome into their homes would lift from one to two.</p>
<p>Caretaker Health Minister Hugo de Jonge also said it was too soon to say what the effect would be on the Dutch vaccination strategy of Johnson &amp; Johnson’s decision to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-coronavirus-pandemic-ca22100350c70111ef4cd6ba947fe2da">delay the rollout</a> of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe amid a U.S. probe into reports of very rare blood clots.</p>
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