Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all legally operating brothels in the Netherlands were closed on 15 March 2020, based on emergency orders per police district. The closing order caught some customers in the middle of their act. Since the Dutch government has failed to provide financial compensation for sex workers (especially those who have always paid taxes through the 'opting-in'-system, designed because sex workers cannot be employees obeying a boss), many of them were forced to continue to work, turning to the somewhat shady business of illegal home-based prostitution.