Travel advice for the Netherlands may change today: no more summer abroad?

Don’t pack your suitcase just yet. Outgoing Minister of Health, Hugo de Jonge, warns that the colour code for the Netherlands might change to red on the European coronavirus map — meaning more restrictions for travellers.

The map is published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC) every Thursday and is based on the outcome of test results in the past 14 days. With the latest rise in infections, it’s not looking promising for Dutch travellers.

Could the Netherlands go to code red?

Currently, the Netherlands enjoys the freedom of a code orange (and even green in some regions) on the ECDC map for travel recommendations in Europe. 🙌 However, a colour change would mean increased travel restrictions when embarking on your trip abroad from the Netherlands.

The ECDC map is not binding advice but a guideline to create “a coordinated approach to the restriction of free movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Hence, it’s always up to individual countries to decide whether they welcome travellers from the Netherlands or not. A code red though will strongly suggest that they shouldn’t.

According to Nu.nl, De Jonge does not expect the coming ECDC update to have adverse effects on travel from the Netherlands, but he suspects the next one might — let’s hope the current infection trend changes before that. 🤞

De Jonge calls on the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) for advice

To mitigate a potential restriction of movement for people in the Netherlands, De Jonge has asked the OMT for urgent advice on the situation. This was encouraged by several parties in the government.

The hope is that the OMT can help to find out which measures are necessary to stabilise the recent outbreaks in the Netherlands.

READ MORE | Back to restrictions? Dutch cabinet seeks urgent advice from OMT as infections surge

Reluctant to increase measures

Despite the increased infection rates, De Jonge does not want to introduce new restrictions just yet. During a debate in the Parliament yesterday, he emphasised that he wants to respect the goals of the government coronavirus policy.

“In a moment I’m going to a debate in the Second Chamber about the coronacrisis and the measurements we are taking.” (For those interested, the recording is still available — time to practice those Dutch listening skills! 😆)

What do you think of De Jonge’s statements? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image: Dimaberlin/Depositphotos

Christine Stein Hededam 🇩🇰
Christine Stein Hededam 🇩🇰
A Dane with a special place in her heart for Minnesota, Christine is now falling in love with everything Dutch. Between finishing her bachelor’s degree, learning Dutch, and doing yoga teacher training, you will find her wandering about the Hague. Always up for visiting new places, she loves to explore the Netherlands with friends and takes pride in scoping out cute cafés (wherein to discuss books, big plans, and food).

9 COMMENTS

  1. Why do we count number of positie tests? This doesn’t represent the problem at all.

    We should count death rate and hospitalization numbers only.

    Based on the them we are doing good. Well, exactly as we did last summer with no summer-lockdowns, no measures and no vaccinations in fact.

    And is no statistical difference for the death rate in Netherlands for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

    So, what are we exactlydoing???

    Check yourself: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/ea064047519040469acb8da05c0f100d

    • The positive rates are more important. Since the virus maybe doesn’t have much affect on one person. But can have on a other person that could get infected.

      • With positive rates Poland became green quite a while ago with 10x bigger death rate than the Netherlands.

  2. Dimitry, Very Interesting Thanks for posting. Do you know where I can find death rates for the NL to take a look at these years you mention?

  3. As soon as masks came off, numbers went up again.People say they don’t like wearing masks, well tough shit people it’s not about what you like it’s about a curbing infections.

  4. This government has been terrible from A to Z.
    They’ve lifted everything together too early. The message sent to the people was like : corona is gone. Go have fun!
    No masks inside when most people didn’t have their second shot yet, is simply incredible.
    It’s either everything (schools closed so parents have to stay home!) To nothing.

    • It is NOT the Government: it is the people.
      Their brainless actions and “need for freedom” , particularly among the young, will keep Covid going and killing innocent people.

  5. Hope it doesn’t change. Leaving for the Netherlands Thursday. Didn’t make an appointment for a negative test because it wasn’t necessary anymore.

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

Open a Dutch bank account without a BSN at these banks

So, you need to open a Dutch bank account without a BSN? You'll be happy to hear that that's geen probleem — but only...

After a korting? The ultimate guide to cheap shops in the Netherlands

Looking for the equivalent of a dollar store, a euro shop, or a pound shop in the Netherlands? Here's what we know about shopping cheaply...

17 Dutch towns with the funniest names

The Netherlands has countless cities and villages, each with its unique atmosphere. While some towns have gained fame due to their attractions, others are...

It's happening

Upcoming events

The latest Dutch news.
In your inbox.