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Weekly update: infections go up despite lockdown but hospitals are (still) coping

Katrien Nivera 🇵🇭
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Weekly update: infections go up despite lockdown but hospitals are (still) coping

The RIVM has released its weekly coronavirus figures from December 28 to January 4. The number of hospitalisations has decreased, while the number of deaths has slightly gone down.

The number of hospitalisations and ICU admissions have decreased while the number of deaths has also decreased.

Over the past week, the RIVM has reported 113,554 new infections in the Netherlands. An increase compared to last week’s report of 84,398 infections.

The percentage of positive tests has also increased, rising to 30.8% compared to 23.4% from the week before.

Deaths

The number of patients who have died from coronavirus-related complications has decreased compared to the past week. This week, 189 people passed away, compared to 272 people the previous week.

Hospitalisations

The number of admissions to the nursing ward and the ICU has decreased. The past week saw 817 new admissions to the nursing ward and 164 new patients in the ICU. The week before, there were 941 patients and 196 patients respectively.

Lockdown measures in the Netherlands will likely remain

Following the announcement of a hard lockdown in the Netherlands, the Dutch cabinet will decide whether to extend or relax the current coronavirus measures on January 14.

The measures have resulted in protests, the most recent taking place in Amsterdam on January 2. Even more, protests are on the way.

But Marc Bonten of the OMT does not expect the measures to be lifted — at the moment, it is too soon to talk about abolishing measures. But there are a few silver linings to this news.

Booster shots available for everyone over 18

Starting today, anyone born before 2003 can get their coronavirus booster shot as early as three months after their last vaccination — all without having to wait for a letter in the mail!

This comes as great news, as Health Minister Hugo de Jonge announced that after February 1, international vaccination certificates will only be valid if they’ve received their booster shots.

Primary and high schools will reopen but universities stay closed

After sending Dutch school children into the Christmas holiday a week early, the Dutch cabinet has decided to reopen primary and high schools next Monday. However, universities in the Netherlands will stay closed for the time being.

Schools were initially closed to curb the infection rate among school children, particularly of the omicron variant which arrived in the Netherlands just before December of 2021.

Follow DutchReview on Facebook for the latest news and coronavirus updates.

Feature Image: nirat.pix/Depositphotos

18 years or older? You can now get your booster shot in the Netherlands

Christine Stein Hededam 🇩🇰
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18 years or older? You can now get your booster shot in the Netherlands

People whose birth certificate reads 2003 or older can now make an appointment for a coronavirus booster shot, reports NU.nl.

The online appointment system opened at 11 AM this morning.

So, if you want a booster shot with Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna, all you have to do is make an appointment online — no need to wait for your invitation letter to arrive. 📫

You also won’t need to show the letter at the injection location. However, remember to bring a valid ID, your appointment confirmation, and fill out the provided questionnaire (either online or at the location).

READ MORE | Coronavirus measures not expected to be lifted says OMT

With almost 64% of Dutch adults vaccinated and the omnicron variant still spreading rapidly in the Netherlands, all over-eighteens can receive their booster shot as early as three months after their last vaccination.

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Feature Image: Milkos/Depositphotos

€10 million in firework damages fire up a Dutch security concern

Farah Al Mazouni 🇸🇾 🇺🇸
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€10 million in firework damages fire up a Dutch security concern

The Netherlands had a costly NYE this year with €10 million in damages — so the 25 mayors of the Dutch Security Council are planning stern talks to the new cabinet about it.

While the Netherlands did introduce a fireworks ban for the NYE of 2021, the lack of its enforcement clearly didn’t help. The Dutch Association of Insurers estimates consumers damages to be approximately €10 million , reports RTL Nieuws.

Even worse, it doesn’t end with this big fat figure as this initial estimate doesn’t include medical costs, or damages to companies, schools, and nurseries — so stay tuned for a growing number. 😓

Apparently, Dutchies broke their own record this year where “more (illegal) fireworks were set off than last year when there was also a ban. The damage is similar to an average New Year’s Eve without a fireworks ban,” says the general manager of the Dutch Association of Insurers, Richard Weurding.

Future tactics

The chaos of this expensive NYE alarmed the mayors that form the Dutch Security Council according to NU.nl — a team that’s formed to deal with crises and disasters. ⚡

The concerns of the council revolve around how these heavy fireworks, such as cobras and mortar bombs, were, among others, being thrown at aid workers despite the existing ban and despite the government seizing more fireworks this year than ever.

Seeking the support of the new Dutch cabinet, the mayors are eyeing agreements with Belgium and Germany as well as an early and clear multi-year strategy to avoid firework-related disturbances. 

“Many types of ornamental fireworks are banned in the Netherlands, but they can be bought across the border. That makes the fireworks ban quite difficult to enforce, especially in the border region. We have to put an end to this,” the mayors say.

What do you think of the Security Council’s plan to avoid future firework damages in the Netherlands? Let us know in the comments!

Feature Image: InfinitumProdux/Depositphotos

See Rembrandt’s Night Watch in minute detail: 717 billion pixels to be precise

Christine Stein Hededam 🇩🇰
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See Rembrandt’s Night Watch in minute detail: 717 billion pixels to be precise

The Dutch are forerunners once again. This time, they created no less than the largest and most detailed photo ever taken of artwork by melting technology and art.

Senior scientist at the Rijksmuseum, Rob Erdmann, tells NU.nl that the photo of Rembrandt’s largest painting operates as a “virtual, always available microscope” for other scientists and the public to use — pretty cool, huh?

Published just this morning, the ultra-high-resolution photo is now available on the Rijksmuseum’s website. 😱

A whole landscape of paint and brushstrokes

The image you’ll see on the museum’s website is, in fact, not one photo.

Rather, it’s a series of no less than 8,439 individual photos measuring 5.5 x 4.1 centimetres each. Every photo was meticulously taken at an exact distance of 13 centimetres from the priceless painting and subsequently “stitched together” using artificial intelligence.

According to Erdmann, who wrote the software himself, the technology provides “a scientific rendering of a material object that shows how well Rembrandt could manipulate paint.”

He elaborates: “We can see every particle of pigment and every brushstroke. We can see paint that Rembrandt didn’t mix perfectly on his palette. We can look into a crack and see the layers of paint in it. It’s like trekking in the Grand Canyon and seeing the geological layers.”

Operation Night Watch

The ultra-high-resolution photo was taken as part of the Rijksmusem’s ‘Operation Night Watch‘ — a several years long research and conservation project that continues in 2022.

READ MORE | Rembrandt masterpiece reconstructed and expanded with AI: see it like never before

However, the 5.6 terabyte photo wasn’t just casually taken. It took two years and eight months to make the whole thing. 🤯 Breaking it up, it took two years to prepare the technology, two months to capture the original painting, and six months to combine the individual photos.

No wonder museums like the Met in New York and the National Gallery in London have already showed interest in the Rijksmuseum’s work.

Have you already viewed the new photo of Rembrand’s masterpiece? What do you think? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image: Rijksmuseum/Press Release

Coronavirus measures not expected to be lifted says OMT

Nicole Ogden 🇹🇭 🇺🇸
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Coronavirus measures not expected to be lifted says OMT

The Dutch cabinet must decide next week whether to extend or relax the hard lockdown measures after January 14. However, Marc Bonten of the OMT says not to hope for too much.

Things aren’t looking very positive for people who are hoping that the hard lockdown will be lifted in the Netherlands.

A member of the OMT, Marc Bonten, believes that his team won’t advise relaxing the measures, reports the NOS.

“It is too soon to start talking about the abolition of all measures,” Bonten told the NOS. “I don’t think people should have too much hope that that will be our advice.”

Small steps

Bonten also believes that there’s a lot of uncertainty and that we have to wait and see what will happen.

On Monday, it was decided that primary and secondary schools may open again next week. According to the OMT, infection rates in small children are declining thus it is an “acceptable risk.”

Cabinet wishes for an expiration date of vaccination certificates

The cabinet wants vaccination certificates to have an expiration date from February 1. This is due to the decreasing effectiveness of vaccines after a period of time.

This means that people in the Netherlands have to get the booster shot in order to get a valid corona pass, the Ministry of Health told NU.nl.

Inside the EU, the vaccination certificates for travel will be valid for nine months starting from February 1.

The ministry is also looking to shorten the validity of the proof of recovery certificates. Instead of the certificate being valid for one year, they would like to reduce it to 180 days.

Follow DutchReview on Facebook for more information about coronavirus in the Netherlands.

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Primary and high schools to open again next Monday — universities remain closed

Cara Räker 🇩🇪
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Primary and high schools to open again next Monday — universities remain closed

After sending school children a week earlier into the Christmas holiday, the Dutch cabinet has decided today to re-open primary and high schools next Monday. 🎒

The Dutch Outbreak Management Team (OMT) has approved the decision, highlighting the importance of education for young children (and maybe some quiet time for their parents? 😂)

Universities and other higher education facilities, however, will have to remain closed until new lockdown measures are announced on January 14, reports the NOS.

In fear of Omicron

The Dutch government decided to close schools earlier for Christmas because of uncertainties regarding the new Omicron variant.

Despite a downward trend in infections over the last couple of weeks, numbers are especially high amongst younger children who don’t keep their distance from one another.

What do you think of this decision? Tell us in the comments!

Feature Image: FamVeldmann/Depositphotos

Record number of women to be in the new Dutch cabinet

Nicole Ogden 🇹🇭 🇺🇸
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Record number of women to be in the new Dutch cabinet

All the political ladies, put your hands up! The new Dutch cabinet will have a record number of women.

The new Dutch cabinet will see 14 female ministers out of 29 and 10 female secretaries of state out of 20 total, reports Al Jazeera.

This is a record number of females in the cabinet for the Netherlands — though unfortunately, there’s still no female Prime Minister. 🙄

The new cabinet, with Mark Rutte as Prime Minister (again), will be officially sworn in on January 10.

Let’s meet (some of) the ladies

The new Minister of Justice and Security will be Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, who was born in Ankara and moved to the Netherlands as a child.

She is part of Rutte’s centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). On May 25, 2021, she was appointed as State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

A familiar face, Sigrid Kaag from Democrats 66 (D66), will be the new Finance Minister. 💸 She is known mostly as a former Arabic-speaking diplomat, having worked for the United Nations and overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.

Kaag is replacing Wopke Hoekstra, who will now become the new Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Another familiar face, Kasja Ollongren, will switch positions from Minister of Interior and Kingdom Relations to Minister of Defence.

The new minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation will be Liesje Schreinemacher (VVD). She has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019.

What do you think about the record number of women in the Dutch cabinet? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Feature Image: Husky/Wikimedia Commons/CC 4.0

KLM ranked the second safest airline in 2021

Jana Vondráčková 🇨🇿
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KLM ranked the second safest airline in 2021

Here’s some good news to kick off the new year. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines was ranked the second safest airline in the world in 2021. 🥳

The only airline that topped KLM was Emirates, shows research by the Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre.

While the United Arab Emirates airline scored 95.05 percent on the JACDEC Safety Risk Index, KLM scored 93.31 percent, reports the AD. This index compares the world’s biggest airlines by over 30 key parameters.

The results of the study are published in the aviation magazine Aero International every year. So who made the top five in 2021?

  • 1. Emirates (UAE)
  • 2. KLM (the Netherlands)
  • 3. JetBlue (US)
  • 4. Delta Air Lines (US)
  • 5. EasyJet (Switzerland)

Safest in Europe

KLM’s success doesn’t end with the world ranking though. The Dutch airline was chosen as the safest one in Europe and its subsidiary — Transavia — came in fourth.

READ MORE | Flying solo: a parent’s tips for travelling from the Netherlands alone with the kids

The second and the third spot were snatched by Finnair and Air Europa, respectively.

Because of the pandemic, there was, unsurprisingly, less flying last year. Airline crashes and incidents from the past were, therefore, weighed more heavily than usual.

At the same time, some airlines — like Austrian Airlines or Eurowings — didn’t make the list at all because they didn’t have enough passenger kilometres.

What do you think of KLM’s success? Let us know in the comments!

Image: dragunov/Depositphotos

Violent (and illegal) coronavirus protest in Amsterdam leads to 31 arrests

Cara Räker 🇩🇪
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Violent (and illegal) coronavirus protest in Amsterdam leads to 31 arrests

Yesterday, at least 10,000 people protested against the hard lockdown at Amsterdams’ Museumplein, leading to 31 arrests and four wounded police officers.

The Dutch government had banned the protest earlier that week on Thursday, reports the NOS. Reasons were concerns regarding adherence to standing coronavirus measures and potential outbreaks of violence — some protestors said online that they would bring weapons.

Just a “coffee date”

To sidestep the banning of the protest, the event was advertised online as ‘coffee-drinking’ (het koffie drinken), reports De Telegraaf.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere didn’t turn out as chipper as implied. The police made 31 arrests for different reasons: causing civil unrest, failure to identify oneself to the police, violence against the police, and possession of weaponry.

When protestors tried to break through a police blockade, four police officers and an unreported number of protestors got injured.

Round two

After a couple of hours, protestors dispersed to join a registered protest in Westerpark. Despite that, the police declared the Museumplein an ‘unsafe zone’ (veligheidsrisicogebied) until 11 PM.

Organizers have announced a second protest on January 16.

What are your thoughts on the protest? Tell us in the comments!

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Missing LEGO statue of André Hazes found in Friesland

Farah Al Mazouni 🇸🇾 🇺🇸
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Missing LEGO statue of André Hazes found in Friesland

The kidnappers in the André Hazes LEGO case were finally identified as De Geitefok, a New Year’s Eve association from the Frisian village of Oldeberkoop.

The LEGO figure of the late Dutch artists disappeared last week from Amsterdam with a note that said: “Corona threw a spanner in the works. André now has time for another performance.”

It turns out that the stunt kidnapping came with an intent by the group to draw attention to the coronavirus crisis in the Netherlands, which we’ve been dealing with for nearly two years now, according to NU.nl.

Luckily, the statue is safe and sound — or so it appears from the tweet on the association’s official account, with members surrounding Hazes left and right, and a promise to return him to Dam Square soon.

Famous kidnappers

This New Year stunt isn’t De Geitefok’s first. The group previously stole the Olympic rings from the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.

Additionally, they also went after a memorabilia item (a large ball) from the Royal Dutch Football Association. All items were restored neatly.

Follow DutchReview on Facebook and Instagram for the latest and weirdest news from the Netherlands!

Feature Image: PhotographerFromAmsterdam/DepositPhotos

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