THE HAGUE – Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced a significant easing in his country's months-long coronavirus lockdown Tuesday, calling it a delicate balancing act as infections remain stubbornly high.
The decision to cautiously relax restrictions reflects difficult choices being made in many countries as lockdown fatigue grows even as positive cases keep rising.
Earlier in the day, the country’s public health institute said that the number of people who tested positive over the last week rose by 5.3% to nearly 54,000.
The institute said that the pressure on hospitals and other medical professionals “remains high.” Even so, Rutte he was taking “a careful step” to ease the lockdown because of predictions that the infection