To Be Inaugurated Today, The New Dutch Minister Of Finance Tested Positive For COVID-19 Yesterday

JAKARTA - The new Dutch Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag will miss the inauguration ceremony of the new Dutch government on Monday, after she tested positive for the coronavirus.

"I have tested positive for coronavirus. This will be a slightly different start than I expected," Kaag said in a post on Twitter Sunday, citing Reuters on January 9.

"My inauguration will be done digitally. Luckily I feel fine," she continued.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte's fourth successive government will be sworn in by Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Monday, nearly 10 months after the last election and a year since the previous government stepped down.

Even though the governing coalition is made up of the same four parties that have led since 2017, it took nearly 300 days to reunite them after an inconclusive March 17 election, leaving parties even more reluctant to compromise.

Their inauguration comes amid a sharp increase in coronavirus infections due to the Omicron variant, despite a widespread lockdown that has kept most public places closed since mid-December.

To note, former UN diplomat Kaag served as foreign minister in the previous government and is the leader of the second-largest party in the coalition, pro-EU D66.

Apart from missing the meeting with the king, he will also be absent from the traditional photo of the new cabinet taken on the steps of the royal palace.