Dutch COVID-19 test centres SLAMMED with requests: 200-300 bookings per minute

Woke up this morning with a runny nose? Looks like you aren’t the only one. In the past 24 hours, the GGD has booked over 100,000 PCR test appointments.

That adds up to a staggering 200-300 tests being booked every minute in the Netherlands. 😳

Test locations are working very hard to meet the sudden explosion in bookings with over 77,000 tests carried out yesterday. However, at the time of writing an additional 75,000 test bookings have been made so far today.

Similar to February and March of 2021

A statement from the GGD has likened the peak in tests to those experienced at the very beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are currently seeing a movement in the total test take-offs similar to the peaks in December 2020 and in February/March 2021.”

Pulling out all the stops

At the moment, you may find that when you go to book a test appointment with the GGD, the coronatest.nl website does not show any testing locations, or the phone lines don’t work. This is because the system is currently overwhelmed by an abundance of runny noses.

READ MORE | Coronavirus in the Netherlands: all you need to know [UPDATED]

But drop the toilet paper and stop whisking up that Delgona coffee — let’s not go into full panic mode yet. The GGD has said that it will be “pulling out all the stops to meet the enormous test demand.”

A call to arms for testers

Testers working for the GGD received a text from their employer asking for their help during this trying time:

Photo-of-text-received-by-GGD-worker
Image: DutchReview/Supplied.

Translation: Yesterday, there were approximately 100,00 test appointments made and approximately 77,000 carried out. At this moment, we have 75,000 appointments planned for today with 200-300 being booked per minute.

Have you tried to book a test today? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!

Feature Image: DutchReview

Sarah O'Leary 🇮🇪
Sarah O'Leary 🇮🇪
Sarah originally arrived in the Netherlands due to an inability to make her own decisions — she was simply told by her mother to choose the Netherlands for Erasmus. Life here has been challenging (have you heard the language) but brilliant for Sarah, and she loves to write about it. When Sarah is not acting as a safety threat to herself and others (cycling), you can find her sitting in a corner of Leiden with a coffee, trying to sound witty.

1 COMMENT

  1. So, cold season (cold, flue) + holidays time + measures (applied in a chaotic and illogical way) + public fear (thanks government) + confusion with vaccination (no proven improvement or tangible benefits) + absolute discrimination (despite equalities in sex, age, race etc.) and many more factors… These all lead to he panic and as one of the results is very simple and visible – let’s do tests every day! Surprising?! Not at all!

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