Скачать или смотреть Dutch bar owners, sex workers in lockdown protest

(2 Mar 2021) A number of Dutch cafes symbolically opened their terraces on Tuesday amid growing opposition to the coronavirus lockdown from hard-hit businesses.
In Rotterdam, one cafe owner welcomed a number of special guests - in a scene reminiscent of carefree cafe life before the lockdown.
But Peter Bender's customers were of the silent kind - white inflatable dummies dressed in T-shirts, wigs and large red noses.
He said he took what he said was a "ludricous action" to highlight the lack of support from the government.
"We've waited long enough... we're really sick of it," he told The Associated Press.
The pandemic has taken a brutal economic toll in the Netherlands.
Turnover in the accommodation and food services sector shrank by an unprecedented 33.9% in 2020 due to the pandemic, the statistics office has reported.
In the final quarter, as the lockdown tightened after a summer of eased measures, cafes saw turnover decline by 70.4% compared with the previous quarter.
Businesses that accept paying guests in breach of the lockdown risk a 4,000-euro ($4,800) fine.
But bar owners insist that they can reopen their terraces safely by enforcing social distancing and hygiene measures.
Hairdressers, massage parlours, nail and pedicure salons, and other "contact" professions will be able to reopen for business from Wednesday.
The Tattoo Garden in The Hague was busy preparing for customers on Tuesday after being closed for two and a half months.  
Owner Linda Berserik said she was "very happy" as the enforced closure had been "quite a hassle to get through".
Workers in the Dutch sex industry, however, are not allowed to provide any services.
A group of sex workers took staged a demonstration and set up a peep show outside parliament in The Hague in protest.
One workers, who identified herself as Melissa, said she and her colleagues were just like anyone else.
"We also have to pay rent just like any other person who works so why can everybody work except us?" she said.
Another worker, who described herself as a dominatrix, pointed out that she could keep her distance from a client much better than a hairdresser.
The government has pledged billions of euros (dollars) in support of ailing businesses.
And Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra on Tuesday sympathised with the bar owners, saying he understood their "frustration".
But allowing them to reopen was "not possible yet", he said, adding: "That's the way it is."

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