Cooling units set up outside Dutch funeral homes to tackle rise in COVID-19 deaths

The Dutch funeral organisation, DELA has made the decision to set up extra cooling units outside of their funeral homes in order to keep up with the rise in coronavirus infections and deaths.

Speaking to RTL Nieuws, DELA spokeseman Martijn van de Koolwijk, explains that “it is one of the first measures when there is an oversupply of deceased bodies.”

Rising coronavirus infections and deaths

And why are Dutch funeral homes worried about too many bodies? The rising coronavirus infections and deaths. Koolwijk explains that this measure was also taken at the beginning of the year, when infection numbers were at yet another peak.

“At the beginning of the year, refrigerated containers were placed at funeral homes in 14 cities,” he says. “They were removed again when the number of infections and deaths decreased at the beginning of the summer.”

Now, the organisation has deemed it necessary to roll out the coolers once again with the units being added to funeral homes in Nijmegen, Leiden, Bilthoven, Geleen, Eindhoven Roermond Roosendaal, and Goes Den Bosch.

“It is one of the first measures that can be taken quickly,” Koolwijk says.

Follow DutchReview on Facebook for the latest coronavirus news and updates.

Feature Image: Buurserstraat38/Depositphotos

Sarah O'Leary 🇮🇪
Sarah O'Leary 🇮🇪
Before becoming the Senior Editor of DutchReview, Sarah was a fresh-faced international looking to learn more about the Netherlands. Since moving here in 2017, Sarah has added a BA in English and Philosophy (Hons.), an MA in Literature (Hons.), and over three years of writing experience at DutchReview to her skillset. When Sarah isn't acting as a safety threat to herself and others (cycling), you can find her trying to sound witty while writing about some of the stickier topics such as mortgages and Dutch law.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related posts

Latest posts

Where are the ‘I amsterdam’ letters? The complete selfie guide

Here's a riddle for you: what weighs 250 kilos, is two metres high, and features in around 6,000 selfies a day? The I amsterdam...

Dutch companies are “selling” residence permits via the highly skilled migrant scheme

The Netherlands employs its so-called Kennismigranten (highly skilled migrants) in many sectors, from IT to academia to... nail salons, apparently. Yup, according to research by...

Expats may soon have to take an integration course when living in Amsterdam

If you're an expat living in Amsterdam, you could soon be asked to take Dutch language classes, history lessons, and volunteer time. That's right,...

It's happening

Upcoming events

The latest Dutch news.
In your inbox.