Dutch urban centres were largely deserted today as the country began a snap lockdown that left people's Christmas plans in disarray.
The government's move aims to stem an expected Covid-19 surge caused by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the shutdown yesterday evening, ordering the closure of all but essential stores, as well as restaurants, hairdressers, gyms, museums and other public places from today until at least 14 January.
In Rotterdam, police used a water cannon to disperse a group of around 1,000 people who had gathered outside the city's main football stadium, ahead of a clash between local team Feyenoord and bitter Amsterdam rivals Ajax.
Several people were held as fireworks and bottles were thrown at police and at the Ajax team bus, news agency ANP said.
Spectators have been barred from Dutch sporting events since the end of November.
The new curbs, which also include a ban on gatherings outside of more than two people, were unexpected, and many people rushed out yesterday to stock up on presents or get a last-minute festive haircut.
Hospitality workers demanded compensation for lost income over the holiday season.
"Closing all bars and restaurants in such an important month is incredibly painful and dramatic. We need compensation and an exit strategy," the Dutch association for hospitality services said.
Dutch coronavirus infections have dropped from record levels after a night-time lockdown came into force last month.
But Omicron cases are increasing rapidly and the variant is expected to become dominant before the end of the year.
Hospitals have already been cancelling regular operations for weeks as they try to avoid running out of beds due to high numbers of Covid-19 patients.
The government also said that it would accelerate its booster vaccine programme.
More than 85% of Dutch adults are double-vaccinated, fewer than 9% have had a booster shot, one of the lowest rates in western Europe.
EU secures extra 20 million Pfizer doses
The European Commission has said it has reached an agreement with BioNTech and Pfizer for an extra 20 million doses of their vaccine to be delivered to EU member states in the first quarter of 2022.
These doses come on top of an already scheduled 195 million doses from BioNTech-Pfizer, bringing the total number of deliveries in the first quarter to 215 million, a commission statement said.
The commission and member states have also exercised an option to order more than 200 million BioNTech-Pfizer doses adapted for the Omicron variant and expect delivery from the second quarter of 2022.
These doses would bring the total number of deliveries by BioNTech-Pfizer to 650 million doses during 2022, the commission said.
On 16 December, the European Commission had said that it has reached an agreement with Moderna to rush deliveries of the US company's vaccine to Germany and other EU member states.
Australia undaunted by mounting Covid-19 cases
Australian officials have said there was no need to clamp down on Christmas festivities even as new Covid-19 infections climbed in Sydney, with the country's high vaccination rate helping keep people out of hospital.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said he was confident Australia would not need to follow the Netherlands.
"We're going into summer, we have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world and a very different set of circumstances. So we don't see that's a likely situation in Australia," Mr Hunt told reporters in a televised media conference.
The Netherlands, he said, has suffered vastly higher infections and deaths than Australia over the pandemic and is now in the depths of winter when cases were more likely to climb sharply.
"We're well prepared and people are overwhelmingly ... continuing to do an amazing job," Mr Hunt said, referring to the more than 90% of Australians over 16 who have been fully vaccinated.
Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, has reported a record 2,566 new cases, up from 2,482 yesterday. Cases in intensive care remained low at 28, which state premier Dominic Perrottet said was "incredibly positive".
The state has reported more than 11,000 new cases in the past week, quadruple the number in the previous week, sparking calls from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and an online campaign urging the state to reinstate track and trace codes, mandatory masks and capacity limits.
"Even if Omicron turns out to be mild in vaccinated people, an explosion of cases will have a devastating effect on healthcare ... Caution now so much better than regrets later," AMA President Omar Khorshid said on social media.
However, Mr Perrottet rejected those calls saying the key metric was the number of cases in intensive care.
"It's a time for calm. But it's also an important time to go out and get your booster shot, because vaccination has been key to New South Wales' success," Mr Perrottet said.
Total new cases reported in Australia fell to 3,958 from a record 4,110 reported the previous day, thanks to a drop in Victoria state to 1,240 new infections today.
Victoria Deputy Premier James Merlino said while the Omicron variant was raising concern, people should just take common sense steps, such as wearing masks, to protect themselves.
"We are not changing our settings ... We're not talking about lockdowns," Mr Merlino told reporters.
Health officials said it was not clear yet what the split was between Omicron and Delta cases among Australia's new infections.
Australia has fared much better than other countries in the pandemic after shutting its borders in March 2020, with around 247,000 total cases and 2,142 deaths.
