THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch prime minister has extended his country’s tough coronavirus lockdown until the end of the month. But Mark Rutte added a note of hope to his message to a pandemic-weary nation on Monday. He predicted that a “tipping point is coming when the vaccine gains the upper hand over the virus.” Rutte was speaking a week before a parliamentary election in the Netherlands. He is seeking a fourth term that could make him the longest-serving Dutch leader. The pandemic is casting a long shadow over other issues in the countdown to three days of voting that start on March 15.
