The results of the first week of coronavirus testing: only 2% of tests came back positive

A week after coronavirus testing was opened to anyone with symptoms, 50,000 tests have been taken, of which only 1,000 came back positive.

Just under 60,000 appointments were made for people to take a coronavirus test since last Monday. Of those, 50,000 tests were already done, with the remaining 10,000 due to take place today. Only 2 percent of the tests came back positive.

This is what Sjaak de Gouw, portfolio holder Infectious Disease Control of GGD GHOR, expected. “When we tested in healthcare, about 17 percent of the tests were positive among residents [of healthcare institutions] and employees. Then we also tested the teachers and contact professions, after which that percentage dropped to 5 percent. We had already assumed that the percentage of positive tests – now that the testing options have been further expanded – would be below 5 percent and it shows.”

90,000 unique callers in the first week

The GGD appears to have calculated the maximum capacity of testing centres and the phone line correctly. Although at the beginning of the week, there was a massive upsurge in phone calls (over 90,000 total unique callers throughout the week), in the end those who needed to be tested were able to get the necessary appointments.

Interestingly, at least 40% of those who called the phone line were not people with symptoms: many seem to have been people with questions about coronavirus and its implications, for example for summer holidays or seeing family members.

You can follow DutchReview on Facebook for more updates on coronavirus in the Netherlands.

Feature Image: DutchReview/Canva

Ailish Lalor
Ailish Lalor
Ailish was born in Sydney, Australia, but grew up by a forest in south-east Ireland, which she has attempted to replace with a living room filled with plants in The Hague. Besides catering to her army of pannenkoekenplantjes, Ailish spends her days convincing her friends that all food is better slightly burnt, plotting ways to hang out with dogs and cats, and of course, writing for DutchReview.

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