“We’re not in a situation that allows us to loosen restrictions,” prime minister Xavier Bettel (DP) said during a press conference on 9 December. The government will propose a law this week to keep restaurants, cinemas, theatres and other venues closed until 15 January.

This will also include extending the nightly curfew and the rule of two currently in place, meaning that only two people from the same household can visit another home.

These rules in particular could dampen the Christmas cheer across the country. “I know how difficult it is,” said Bettel. “I would rather give up on a few hours of joy now than suffer pain for years to come,” he said.

Health minister Paulette Lenert (LSAP), too, said many families would be missing relatives this Christmas. As of Wednesday, 369 people have died after testing positive for Sars-CoV-2, with more than half of deaths having occurred since November.

“What we can say with certainty is that once the virus is in a family, it has the tendency to spread quickly,” the health minister said.

Lawmakers will need to approve the plans by the government by 15 December, when the current restrictions expire. Bettel did not comment on whether a majority in parliament could advocate for some of the rules to be lifted over the holidays. “We’ve taken responsibility,” he said of the government’s proposal.

In addition to upholding current restrictions, the government also wants to introduce a series of new measures. These include prohibiting people from consuming take-out food and drink within shopping malls.

Recent weeks had shown that shoppers will sit on benches or stand together in groups, taking off their masks to eat and drink, the premier said. “We all need to understand that shopping is not a leisure activity or a weekend trip,” Bettel said.

Shopping malls will also need to present concepts to limit the number of visitors and manage the flow of people indoors. Already, shops over 400m2 can welcome only one customer per 10m2, but this rule does not apply to the rest of the mall corridors.

Both the PM and health minister acknowledged the heavy toll that the pandemic has taken on people in Luxembourg, including mental health problems, loss of livelihood and illness and loss of life.

“Everyone needs to make the small effort of minimising contacts,” Lenert said, adding that the cost of infections getting out of control would be much higher yet.