Coronavirus/CoVid-19/Health
Coronavirus in The Netherlands — update 25 March 2020
Today I update you about issues going on about Coronavirus in The Netherlands yesterday. I try to do this every morning from the previous day, but forgive me if that doesn’t happen as I have three daughters to homeschooling.
It is possible that our schools remain to be closed after April 6. Minister Slob, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education and Media, wants to wait about reopening the schools. He wants to wait for the results of the RIVM, The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. There is still an investigation into the role of children and young people in the spread of the coronavirus. It may take another six weeks to get results.
There has been something found in the lungs of the Coronavirus patients. A part of Coronavirus patients keeps permanent lung damage. Lung Foundation is preparing for a new group of patients with the Coronavirus.
“Inflammation can arise that causes scar tissue on the lungs,” says pulmonologist Leon van den Toorn, chairman of the Dutch Association of Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis (NVALT). “This could mean that many more people with lung problems will be added soon. A new lung disease will develop.”
After the announcement we may not receive more than three visitors at the same time, police officers still see young people at home sitting on a couch too close together, and intervene.
The Coronavirus also has been found in Dutch sewage, research by RIVM shows. With DNA techniques, RIVM has found the Coronavirus in wastewater in Amsterdam, Tilburg and at the sewage treatment plant that also purifies the wastewater from Loon op Zand, where the first Coronavirus case has been found, RIVM found the virus four days after him being tested positive. Some of the Coronavirus patients have the virus in their stools, which ends up in the sewers through the toilets.
In The Netherlands, we always have a lot of performances of The Matthäus Passion. Unfortunately, 80 people died from the effects of the Coronavirus in the past day. In total there are now 356 deaths. In 24 hours — again — 852 people have been tested positive for Coronavirus. Now we have a total of 6412 Coronavirus patients in The Netherlands.
The Hague Market is closed because it was too busy. The Hague Market on the Herman Costerstraat is the largest in the Netherlands. Up to 40,000 visitors come on weekends.
There are still more than 15,000 Dutch people abroad. Most Dutch people are still stuck in Australia, New Zealand, Morocco, and Indonesia.
According to Minister Blok, an airplane was leaving yesterday to pick up the Dutch from the Canary Islands. Flights are also planned for the Cape Verde Islands and the Indonesian island of Bali.
“We are still working on other flights,” says Blok. “We are in regular contact with embassies and ministers to get movement in countries where borders are now closed, such as Morocco.”
The last KLM last flight will fly from Suriname to Amsterdam On March 28. There will be no more airplanes flying until May 3.
TUI Fly already picked up the last passengers from Suriname today and will no longer fly to Suriname until April 30.
Next Tuesday, the national government will decide what happens after April 6. Until April 6, schools, cafes and restaurants are closed. Major events are also prohibited.
A decision will, therefore, be taken on all measures that will apply until 6 April, such as the closure of sports clubs and staying at home and working from home as much as possible.
It will not be clear this week whether primary and secondary and intermediate vocational schools will remain closed until 1 June.
Minister Slob of Education said that the schools would probably remain closed longer. Prime Minister Rutte said that that is not yet certain. “It was decided to close the schools until April 6 because there was unrest among parents and teachers. RIVM needs more time for its investigation, but that does not mean that the schools will remain closed until after April 6.”
Diederik Gommers, the chairman of the Dutch Association for Intensive Care, said today that there may be a shortage of beds in intensive care next week. Probably there will be 1,600 ICU patients in hospitals, 1,100 of whom will be Coronavirus patients.
Always check the (latest) facts with your country.
More Coronavirus stories:
Agnes Laurens is a writer. She writes for the local newspaper. Agnes lives in Bunnik, The Netherlands, with her husband and three daughters. Writing is — aside from playing the violin — one of her passions since childhood. She is on Twitter and Instagram.
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