On Mar. 16 (Singapore time), the Dutch government announced the temporary closure of its red light district to prevent further spread of Covid-19.
Red light district in Netherlands closed till Apr. 6
According to Dutch media NL Times, the new measure was introduced at 12:30am on Mar. 16 (Singapore time).
All restaurants, bars, cafes, fitness centres, saunas, sex clubs, and "coffee shops" around the area will shut down till Apr. 6.
The "coffee shops" are euphemisms for shops are known for selling cannabis, or weed, as it's more commonly known.
Long queues
Within an hour of the announcement, pictures and videos of people rushing to get their weed supplies in Amsterdam went viral online.
Long queues were spotted outside the "coffee shops".
Technically illegal, but tolerated
Technically, weed is illegal in the Netherlands.
But in 1976, it decriminalised the possession of less than 5g of cannabis.
This basically means that it’s tolerated in the country.
The long queues for weed came despite Dutch Health Minister, Bruno Bruins, urging the country not to hoard any supplies.
As of Mar. 15, the Netherlands had a total of 959 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 12 fatalities.
Top images from Spanky maggyvaneijk/Twitter & Sarah Hijmans/Twitter.