Throw all your self-tests in the bin, as the Dutch Cabinet has agreed to get rid of the latest COVID-19 measures. 😷
The Cabinet has decided that self-tests are no longer required and you no longer need to stay at home if you have any symptoms, reports the NOS.
Why did they come to this decision?
Last month, the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) advised that the measures be scraped.
As the consequences are much less serious than they were at the beginning of the pandemic, the Cabinet concluded that the measures were just not necessary anymore.
READ MORE | Coronavirus in the Netherlands: all you need to know [UPDATED]
“You can now indeed call it a kind of flu,” Minister Kuipers told the NOS.
Corona will now be treated like other respiratory infections since everyone in the Netherlands has built up a response to it. Hoera!
A public health service announcement
The public health department (GGD) testing facilities will close down once and for all.
From March 17, people who need a test or proof of recovery to travel abroad to countries that require one will have to go to private testing facilities in order to do so.
This move, however, did garner some backlash from those not in favour of the Cabinet’s decision.
The GGD has also not decided if a new vaccination needs to be scheduled for the spring.
READ MORE | Dutch health insurance in 2023: what’s new and how to switch
Their only advice is to continue practising general hygiene such as washing your hands and coughing or sneezing into your elbows. (A little bit of common sense will go a long way! 😉)
For those in the care sector
Employees at nursing homes will still be allowed to work if they present covid complaints.
READ MORE | Patients in this Dutch hospital will now be treated by … Artificial Intelligence?
However, the institution should continue to take precautions like, for example, wearing protective clothing if they have symptoms since there are many vulnerable people in nursing homes.
What are your thoughts on the Cabinet’s decision? Tell us in the comments below!