New coronavirus restrictions being proposed by the Dutch government will take weeks to relieve the strain on the healthcare system and may not be enough, experts have warned.

The cabinet is expected to reintroduce face masks in government buildings and close-contact situations such as hairdressers, but not in shops, and extend the range of venues where people must show proof of vaccination or produce a negative test result.

More intrusive measures such as bringing back the 1.5 metre social distancing rule or making masks compulsory in supermarkets would require a change in the law and a debate in parliament.

Prime minister Mark Rutte and health minister Hugo de Jonge will give a a press conference at 7pm on Tuesday after the cabinet has met to agree the new rules.

Patricia Bruining, epidemiologist at UMC Utrecht hospital, told NPO Radio 1: ‘The cabinet is opting for a limited number of measures that are aimed at driving down the rise in hospital admissions by a small amount. It’s not a hammer blow that will send all the curves tumbling.’

Marino van Zelst, a member of the recently disbanded Red Team that lobbied for a more pro-active response to the pandemic, said: ‘The strategy looks like what the cabinet did last October. They’re putting together a package which they assume is just enough to bring the number of admissions down a little.’

Following the introduction of the ‘partial lockdown’ last October the number of positive tests more than halved during November, only to rise again to an all-time peak of 13,000 by Christmas, while hospital admissions never dropped below 150 per day.

Civic leaders have called for the current rules to be enforced more strictly amid reports that many bars, restaurants and sports canteens are not checking if customers have been vaccinated, recovered from a coronavirus infection or tested negative in the last 24 hours.

‘That needs to change, because we want to avoid the need for a package of severe measures,’ justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus said on Monday after a meeting of the group of mayors who make up the safety council.

Grapperhaus said inspectors in civilian clothes or mystery shoppers could be used to check whether CoronaCheck apps are being scanned at the door.

But owners of museums, swimming pools and gyms, where app checks are also expected to be introduced, criticised the plan, saying it would put off potential visitors.

‘The propsed introduction of QR checks for visitors and guests would be the last straw for many swimming baths and swimming schools, given the extreme staff shortages in the sector,’ the Dutch Foundation for Water and Swimming Safety and certification regulator ENVOZ said in an open letter.

Hubert Bruls, chair of the safety council, said ‘efforts have to be stepped up’ to make indoor venues comply with the CoronaCheck rules, but enforcement should be a last resort.

‘If people really don’t listen, we will take action. That means a fine or in the worst case scenario closing premises.

‘But we’re not going to start with enforcement. We should help each other and make sure the system is working. Let’s do everything we can to prevent another lockdown situation.’