The Dutch government is set to decide in the coming days whether there is any room to ease a broad lockdown, which includes a nighttime curfew and the closure of all bars and restaurants in the country.
Meanwhile, an appeals court was hearing more arguments about whether it had ever been legal to introduce the curfew, which triggered street protests when it was brought in last month.
Protesters and political opponents say the curfew, the first seen in the Netherlands since World War Two, is a unnecessary restriction on freedoms.
Tuesday's court ruling found the government's current justifications lacked sufficient legal basis, sending authorities scrambling to draft a bill and enact it swiftly into law.
The measure sparked several days of rioting by anti-lockdown protesters when it was introduced on Jan. 23, and has been heavily criticised by Rutte's opponents in parliament in the run up to the March 17 elections.