The RIVM has published the latest count of coronavirus cases in the Netherlands.
As of now, there are 34,842 confirmed cases, 708 more than yesterday. The number of hospitalizations has reached 10,021, an increase of 124 from the last count. There have also been 138 more deaths since yesterday, reaching a total of 4,054 deaths.
How many beds are left in the ICUs?
This is an important number — it’s a bit more accurate than deaths or hospitalizations, because these are often not reported on the day they occur. Luckily, the number of people in the ICUs has been falling for over a week now. Yesterday there were 1087 people in intensive care for coronavirus across the country.
Today 1087 patients related to the #coronavirus are on the intensive care. This is 71 less than yesterday and the tenth consecutive day with a decrease of occupied IC beds. This is the largest decrease since the start of the crisis.#coronavirusNL #coronaNederland pic.twitter.com/I3BbPtMlHB
— TAG (@itsTAGofficial) April 21, 2020
Healthcare workers to receive bonus
Healthcare workers will receive a bonus, the Minister for Finance announced yesterday. He said that while public displays of appreciation, like applause, were great, he wanted to compensate frontline workers financially as well. This has generally been really well received, but it isn’t fully clear when the bonus will be paid, and how much it will be.
Last night’s press conference: primary schools to reopen, but contact professions still cannot operate
Last evening, Prime Minister Rutte gave the long-awaited press conference that revealed how the corona rules will be relaxed over the coming weeks. There were five different decisions that the cabinet took about coronavirus, in deciding which rules could be relaxed, and which not.
Firstly, the cabinet has allowed primary schools to reopen — at least partially from May 11 onwards. Day-care and special primary education can open fully from the same date. Furthermore, some rules have been relaxed regarding children and playing sports.
Next, public gatherings and events are, as expected, cancelled until September 1. Contact professions such as hairdressers and masseurs are also still not allowed to return to work as yet. Finally, the rest of the measures (i.e. keeping a distance of 1.5 meters) will continue till May 20.
Why are schools being reopened?
At the press conference last night it was announced that primary schools would partially reopen after the May vacation. The RIVM director justified the decision by saying that children seem to get infected by the virus less often, and also generally have very mild symptoms.
7 ways to beat home isolation
Spending so much time at home in isolation can prove to be challenging. For most of us, this is our first experience of being indoors for such a long time, not to mention missing our usual restaurants, theatres, and friends. But there are some great ways to beat home isolation.
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