View source for Dutch Shopkeepers Grapple With Sudden Christmas Lockdown

<br>By Bart H. Meijer<br> <br>AMSTERDAM, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Shopkeepers in the Netherlands on Tuesday were grappling with the [http://www.hometalk.com/search/posts?filter=effects effects] of a new lockdown, which meant they suddenly had to close their doors in what should have been the busiest and most lucrative part of the year.<br> <br>"Obviously it is a big loss, this time of year is extremely important to us", said Robert Reuter, the owner of City Diamonds in the center of Amsterdam.<br> <br>"It is a very hard decision, it is bitter for us, but I think it is necessary."<br> <br>Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday night announced a tough second lockdown in the Netherlands, in a push to drive down the coronavirus infection rate, which has rapidly moved back to record levels in the past week.<br> <br>All schools and non-essential shops in the country of 17 million will be closed for at least five weeks, along with hairdressers, beauty salons, gyms, museums, zoos and other public spaces.<br> <br>National shopkeepers association InRetail warned this move could have "disastrous" effects for the shops concerned.<br> <br>"The impact is enormous", it said in a statement.<br><br>"For many shops this is more than they can bear."<br> <br>[http://www.zixiutangpollencapsules.com/?s=Hairdresser%20Micaela Hairdresser Micaela] Poma, who works at a small hair salon in the center of Amsterdam, told Reuters her shop would indeed lose a lot of money over the Christmas period, which would normally guarantee a full house for weeks.<br> <br>"Christmas time is very important for us, so this will be a big miss", the 31-year old from Bergamo, Italy, said.<br> <br>Poma said she and her colleagues worked until midnight on Monday to serve the dozens of clients who rushed to get a haircut before the lockdown went into effect, and  hairstyles ([https://tinyurl.com/y9nq934e https://tinyurl.com/y9nq934e]) were spending much of Tuesday declining requests from others who still wanted to be served.<br> <br>The number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands jumped by 36% in the week through Tuesday to 58,412, Dutch national health institute RIVM said, while COVID-19 related hospital admissions rose by 20%.<br> <br>Infections increased among all age groups, but were most prominent between the ages of 13 to 24, the RIVM said.<br> <br>(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Piroschka van de Wouw, Editing by Nick Zieminski)<br>