The RIVM has published the latest numbers on coronavirus cases in the Netherlands.
The number of coronavirus patients has continued its creep toward 40,000, with 386 new infections reported in the past day. Yet, the RIVM says the figures of the past days “match the picture that the measures are working.” However, the true infection count remains unknown as the Netherlands has not rolled out widespread testing.
The Dutch death count has increased by 145 in the past day, but RIVM warns that daily figures are particularly skewed this week after the long weekend. The total number of deceased in the Netherlands from COVID-19 now stands at 4,711. The figures also show that 76 patients have been reported hospitalized in the past day.
NS reintroduces intercity trains, warns against non-essential travel
Since March 21, the NS had run on a special schedule, with only two trains leaving per hour in any direction. The trains are also sprinters, meaning that they stop in every station.
However, fewer trains mean more people on them, which makes it difficult to respect the necessary social distancing measures.
The NS will introduce intercity trains again but warns that these are not for social outings and should only be taken if strictly necessary, such as for work.
Coronavirus slows down Dutch population growth
The Central Bureau of Statistics has published its quarterly analysis on the growth of the Dutch population.
Compared to last quarter in 2019, the population growth has slowed down. Part of the reason is that for the month of March, there were more deaths than births. Another reason is due to immigrants no longer coming to the Netherlands due to the coronavirus crisis.
International students affected by the coronavirus outbreak
International students are going through several challenges during this period of time. As many of them were hired in HORECA jobs, they’ve been financially hit by this crisis more than other groups, as restaurants and cafes have closed down.
This had made some of the students unable to pay for living and/or rent expenses. Unions state that there are around 16,000 students that are going through these difficulties.
Furthermore, non-EU international graduates who are on their orientation year visa (zoekjaar) are struggling to find jobs as well due to the coronavirus crisis and are asking for an extension on their visas.
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