The RIVM has released its weekly coronavirus figures from August 11 to August 17. The number of infections has decreased compared to the previous week.
Over the past week, the RIVM has reported 16,564 new infections in the Netherlands. This is a drop compared to last week’s report of 18,048 new infections. The percentage of positive tests increased to 14,6% compared to 12.9% the week before.
After weeks of continuous drops in numbers, the Dutch government is starting to make plans for the restriction-free Netherlands.
Deaths
The number of patients who have died from COVID-19-related complications has gone down. This week, 42 people passed away, compared to 46 people the previous week.
Hospitalisations
Hospitalisations have continued to decrease with the number of admissions to the ICU also decreasing. The past week saw 318 new admissions to the nursing ward and 90 new patients in the ICU. The week before, there were 421 and 115, respectively.
Dutch government aims to end all coronavirus measures on November 1
At last Friday’s press conference, Mark Rutte and Hugo de Jonge outlined their plans for further relaxation of measures in the Netherlands — and it looks like big changes are coming our way!
Provided that infections and hospitalisations stay low, the Dutch government aims to abolish all restrictions on November 1. This will happen in stages, starting with the reopening of higher education without social distancing.
The next step is to remove the requirement of one and a half metres distance in society at large on September 20. If all goes well, we should be living in a coronavirus-restriction-free country by November!
Higher education in the Netherlands to reopen without social distancing
The days of taking classes in your pyjamas are over! Dutch universities and MBO education will begin on-campus teaching after the summer.
Within faculty buildings, students and staff will no longer have to adhere to the one and a half metres distance requirement. Some minor measures, such as one-way traffic in hallways and a maximum of 75 students per lecture hall are staying in place for now.
GGD data leak revealed to be more extensive than first thought
Back in January, it came out that the GGD had suffered a data leak. Now, it turns out that it was much larger than initially reported and that many victims weren’t informed.
Initially, it was reported that the data from 1,250 people — including their date of birth, address, full name, BSN, and telephone number — had been stolen.
However, the GGD recently confirmed that the actual number of victims is still unknown.
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