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King’s Day spike? Hundreds of infections traced back to parties in Amsterdam

Jen Lorimer 🇿🇼
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King’s Day spike? Hundreds of infections traced back to parties in Amsterdam

The Netherlands is feeling the effects of King’s Day celebrations. The GGD has reported at least 483 new coronavirus infections that can be traced back to King’s Day parties in Amsterdam.

According to the GGD, three-quarters of the 483 positive tests were found in people aged 19-30. There were 17 infection clusters in the region, the NOS reports.

READ MORE|King’s Day trial event with 10,000 people is cancelled

Despite the beautiful weather on King’s Day, the majority of infections have been traced back to indoor parties. However, this is also the largest outdoor contamination event so far, as many people who tested positive had also been in parks and the city center.  

Unreported cases suspected

Anja Schreijer from the GGD Amsterdam tells the NOS it is possible that more people were infected on King’s Day but that not everyone who experienced symptoms had themselves tested. Day-trippers may also have been infected in Amsterdam but had their tests in different municipalities.

The GGD is currently investigating whether the Ajax victory party on May 2 contributed to these high numbers.

Are you surprised by this jump in infection numbers? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image: misign/Pexels

Relaxed coronavirus measures are in effect: here’s what you can do from today

Christine Stein Hededam 🇩🇰
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Relaxed coronavirus measures are in effect: here’s what you can do from today

We’re sure you’re tired of home workouts, missing sunset drinks, and really want to see an elephant. Great news! From today, new regulations are in place against coronavirus in the Netherlands.

Eager to know what you can do with the latest coronavirus measures? Here’s the full list from today — plus, how others across the Netherlands have celebrated!

READ MORE | Weekly update: infections, deaths and hospitalisations drop as hoped

Enjoy your favourite terrace to the fullest

Terraces are now allowed to open from 6 AM to 8 PM. Previously, opening hours were constrained to 12 PM to 6 PM. Now you can enjoy a canal-side breakfast or a dreamy dinner.

In the town of Almeno, in Overijssel, a restaurant owner was met with much support and enthusiasm from locals who could enjoy an early breakfast for only €1 (that’s goedkoep!). Meanwhile, early risers were also determined to get the most out of the new measures and started lining up in from of their favourite terrace at 6 this morning, reports NOS.

Hit the gym or your local sport club (finally!)

Gyms and indoor swimming pools have also reopened with a maximum capacity of 30 people. Measures for outdoor sports have also been relaxed further. Now, people aged 27 and above can exercise outdoors while keeping 1.5 metres distance, whilst those under 27 can train without social distancing.

People were eager to start working on their summer bods, with some beginning as soon as gyms opened at midnight. To welcome their members, several gyms had organized special opening hours to celebrate their reopening — some even with champagne, hoera!🍾

Sing, dance, check out a zoo or ride a rollercoaster

Are you more into exercising your mind than your summer bod? With the new measures going into effect you can do both!

The cultural and entertainment sector has also benefitted from new relaxations. From today, indoor locations for artistic and cultural activities may reopen for music, dance, or theatre lessons.

Zoos and theme parks can reopen their outdoor facilities with a maximum of one person per 10 square metres, and outdoor venues for performing arts and film screening can now welcome up to 30 visitors at a time.

Have you already taken advantage of relaxed measures? Tell us in the comments below!

Feature Image: Omar Ram/Unsplash

Music week: Eurovision lights up Europe’s screens

Chloe Lovatt 🇬🇧
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Music week: Eurovision lights up Europe’s screens

We’ve been waiting a whole damn year, but the Eurovision song contest is finally on our screens! Last night, the semi-finals went off with a bang in Rotterdam’s Ahoy.

The first 16 acts have already made their pitch for the final. If you didn’t catch it, never fear, we’ve got a rundown of all the wonderful weirdness that is Eurovision 2021.

Live Eurovision 2021

Last month, the Dutch cabinet gave the song contest the go-ahead. The event is being attended by a live audience thanks to safety regulations imposed by FieldLabs. The 3,500 audience members must provide a negative coronavirus test and stay seated.

This was difficult though, as there have already been some absolute bangers. Ukraine provided peak Eurovision with the recorder-techno mash-up “SHUM”. What Russia provided was pure art, with an ornate backdrop and stunning footage for the song “Russian woman.” Both of these acts made it to the final, along with Belgium, Norway, Israel, Azerbaijan, Malta, Lithuania, Cyprus, and Sweden.

We also got a moving performance from Dutch singer, Davina Michelle. Her song “The power of water” certainly made an impact. Radio producer Coen Swijnenburg tweeted that the song gave him “Goosebumps, everywhere, wow.”

Dutch entry for Eurovision

This year, Jeangu Macrooy will be representing the Netherlands with his song “Birth Of A New Age.” Originally from Suriname, Macrooy moved to Amsterdam aged 20. Already having a passion for music, he began collaborating with producer Perquisite when he started studying at music college.

Dutch-entry-for-Eurovision-2021-rehearsing
Jeangu Macrooy rehearsing for the final. Image: Eurovision.tv/Press Release

He sings “Birth of A New Age” in three different languages: English, Sranan Tongo, and Suriname. The song tells a story of resilience and the dawn of a new era, according to official Eurovision website. The Netherlands will not perform in the semi-final, so Macrooy can keep his voice intact for the final on Saturday.

Where can I watch it?

The rest of the semi-final will be tomorrow night. You can catch the grand finale at 21:00 on Saturday, May 22, on NPO 1.

What do you think about the Eurovision song contest? Let us know in the comments!

Feature Image: Eurovison.tv/Press Release

Faking your way to a vaccine: people have been jumping the queue for months

Jen Lorimer 🇿🇼
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Faking your way to a vaccine: people have been jumping the queue for months

A breach has allowed potentially thousands of people to skip the queue and receive their coronavirus vaccinations ahead of schedule. 

Coronavirus vaccinations have been available to approximately 700,000 healthcare workers in the Netherlands since January. Because of this, some healthcare institutions have had samples of the invitation letter for healthcare workers available on their websites.

Speed at the expense of security 

However, the urgency with which the vaccination system had to be set up has meant that at times the security of the system has been secondary. As a result, the invitation letter is a generic Microsoft Word document that can be found on Google and easily adapted. People only need to modify the name in the letter and then can make a booking for a shot, reports RTL Nieuws.

This method of jumping the queue for vaccinations has proven effective as there are only limited checks at the vaccination sites. As long as the name on the ID card matches the name on the invitation, the person is cleared to receive their shot.

The availability of invitation letters has spurred an online black market, with letters being sold for around €50 to vaccine-hopefuls.

An updated booking system for healthcare workers 

As a result of the revelations made by RTL Nieuws, the GGD has taken action to make the vaccination booking process for healthcare workers more secure. Healthcare workers who have received an invitation letter must now make a phone call (instead of booking online) to reserve their vaccination slot. 

Planning on Googling for a letter? Hold your horses: the letters have now reportedly been removed from the internet. But don’t fret, the government maintains that every person over 18 who wants to be vaccinated should receive their first shot by July.

Who do you think is more at fault: the GGD or the queue-jumpers? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Feature Image: Mat Napo/Unsplash

Sick of the rain? Vacations in Greece are now possible with a Dutch vaccination certificate

Christine Stein Hededam 🇩🇰
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Sick of the rain? Vacations in Greece are now possible with a Dutch vaccination certificate

In need of some vitamin D? From today on, people who have received their second corona vaccination will be able to travel to Greece without a negative PCR-test. All you need to enjoy the Greek sun is to provide a vaccination certificate from the GGD or the hospital.

According to the Dutch Ministry of Health, a vaccination certificate from the GGD or hospital will serve as “fraud proof” evidence of having received a proper vaccination, reports RTL news.

It is important that the personal details on the certificate match those of your passport (or another travel document). In addition, the certificate should state which vaccination you were administered and include the date of vaccination — the second shot should be no less than 14 days old.

Changes to previous regulations

Previously, people coming from the Netherlands needed to provide a negative PCR-test even after being fully vaccinated. The Greek government will allow Dutchies to explore its shores in spite of the fact that The Netherlands does not yet have an official vaccination passport.

READ MORE|A holiday to Greece with no quarantine? This may be possible soon

This is because the Greek government now recognises a GGD or Dutch hospital vaccination certificate as carrying official value.

Not vaccinated but still want to travel?

If you are hoping to spend your vacation in Greece, but have not yet been vaccinated, you can still travel there if you can provide a negative PCR-test taken within the last 72 hours. People who have had corona within the last nine months are also allowed into Greece.

Where are you hoping to spend your summer vacation? Let us know in the comments below!

Feature Image: Mati Flo/Unsplash

Weekly update: infections, deaths and hospitalisations drop as hoped

Chloe Lovatt 🇬🇧
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Weekly update: infections, deaths and hospitalisations drop as hoped

The RIVM has released its weekly coronavirus figures from May 12 to May 18. The number of infections has dropped compared to the previous week.

Over the past week, the RIVM reported 35,142 new infections in the Netherlands. This is a decrease compared to the previous week’s number of 47,108 new infections. The percentage of positive tests went up to 12.2% compared to 12.3% the week before.

Deaths

The number of patients who have died from COVID-19-related complications has gone down. This week 90 people passed away, compared to 164 people the previous week.

Hospitalisations

Hospitalisations, as well as the number of admissions to the ICU, have decreased. The past week saw 1,152 new admissions to the nursing ward and 239 new patients in the ICU. The week before, there were 1,458 and 313 respectively. This is a drop of over 20% — a number that was required for the government to allow further relaxations.

Relaxations as of tomorrow

The next set of relaxations will come into effect tomorrow, May 19. These include extended opening hours for terraces, from 6 AM until 8 PM. In addition, zoos, amusement parks, and performing arts venues will be allowed to reopen in open-air environments.

More relaxations will also be introduced for indoor locations for artistic and cultural activities, as well as sports — adults will be able to exercise outside in a team, and gyms will reopen with appointment slots. 

Huge demand for leftover vaccines

Since Prullenbakvaccin.nl — a website that lets you know where you can find sites with leftover vaccines — launched last week, it has been inundated with traffic. It received over one million visits in the first few days, and hundreds of people queued at the first registered locations.

The first GP surgery to be registered received so many calls on the first day that the developers had to restrict the number of sites and their details. Now you can only see GPs surgeries with leftover vaccines within 20 km of your location. Some Dutch doctors expressed that they weren’t concerned by the high traffic as it demonstrates just how many people in the Netherlands want to be vaccinated.

Paying for PCR tests

Despite the EU Commission proposing that PCR coronavirus tests needed before you travel should be free, the Netherlands disagrees. Going on holiday has been possible since Saturday, and anyone jet setting has to complete a PCR test before travelling. Currently, a commercial PCR test can often set you back over €100.

However, the Netherlands will not have the power to veto the decision of the EU. If the majority of the EU member states vote in favour of free PCR testing, the Netherlands will have to follow suit.

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

Feature Image: Daiga Ellaby/Unsplash

Big Brother: Dutch municipalities secretly watch citizens through social media

Chloe Lovatt 🇬🇧
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Big Brother: Dutch municipalities secretly watch citizens through social media

Last month Dutch Facebook users found out that their personal details had been leaked, now there is more bad news. It turns out Dutch municipalities have been monitoring citizens on a large scale via social media. They do this by illegally using fake accounts.

This is according to research carried out by the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and the University of Groningen. It revealed that nearly one in six municipalities use fake social media accounts to monitor citizens in the Netherlands.

Municipalities created fake accounts on social media to enter Facebook groups under false names. This was often to gain insight on possible demonstrations and protests. Officials also used these fake accounts to monitor earnings on Marktplaats, to try and identify social assistance fraud, as well as looking at the flight stories of asylum seekers.

This is a method that is only lawful for the police or secret services to use, according to de Volkskrant.

Lack of clarity on the law

According to the investigation, many municipality officials were unaware that their actions were against the law. More than half of the 156 Dutch municipalities interviewed didn’t know which privacy laws applied to them.

Simply forbidden

As you might expect, this is a severe infringement on the right to privacy. This is confirmed by Professor of Law and Data Science at Leiden University, Bart Custers. He told de Volkskrant that “it is simply forbidden. Municipalities are not allowed to play detective for the police or intelligence service.”

READ MORE | Zwarte Piet pages removed from Facebook

The Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) has responded to de Volkskrant saying that it doesn’t yet have a clear picture of online monitoring. It did confirm that it is currently working on an inventory of all cases, but a spokesperson for the association didn’t want to comment further on the issue, according to the NOS.

How do you feel about these fake accounts? Let us know in the comments!

Feature Image: Glenn Carstens/Unsplash 

Here are the relaxations we’ll see in the Netherlands from Wednesday

Chloe Lovatt 🇬🇧
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0
Here are the relaxations we’ll see in the Netherlands from Wednesday

As predicted, outgoing Minister of Health, Hugo de Jonge, has announced that there will be further relaxations on Dutch coronavirus measures from Wednesday.

Rutte teased that these measures may be relaxed in last week’s press conference, saying that this would only be possible if hospitalisation figures dropped by at least 20%. Compared to last week, these have already fallen by more than 24%.

Due to this and the drop in coronavirus infections, the cabinet is happy to continue with relaxations. “What we see in the figures is a good decrease,” says outgoing minister De Jonge, “it is mainly an effect of vaccination.”

What measures will relax on Wednesday?

Given these figures and the government’s plan, from Wednesday onwards, the Dutch government will allow further relaxations. Under these, terraces will have extended opening hours, from 6 AM until 8 PM. 

In addition, zoos, amusement parks, music schools, and theatres will be allowed to reopen in open-air environments. More relaxations will be introduced for sports — adults will be able to exercise outside in a team, and gyms will reopen with appointment slots. 

If you want to get clued up on all the changes coming in on Wednesday, here is a handy graphic:

Latest coronavirus measures. Image: DutchReview/Canva

What do you think about De Jonge’s statement today? Is this the right time for more relaxations? Let us know in the comments!

Feature Image: William Choquette/Pexels

How are the Dutch responding to recent events in Gaza? Protests and official statements

Chloe Lovatt 🇬🇧
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How are the Dutch responding to recent events in Gaza? Protests and official statements

While thousands of people in the Netherlands attended pro-Palestine protests on Sunday, the country’s prime minister has given a somewhat confusing response. Rutte has released an official statement encouraging both countries to work towards peace, but he has come under scrutiny for his tweets.

Several thousand people gathered in various cities to protest Israel’s response to the Gaza crisis. Protesters marched in Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon, many gathering in Dam Square, reports Nu.nl. People also gathered to protest in Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Groningen, and Enschede. All protesters were urged to keep the 1.5 meter distance, and police were present at many of the protests.

Many attendees of these protests carried the Palestinian flag. In Eindhoven, the crowd was addressed in Arabic and Dutch, holding a minute’s silence for the victims of “apartheid and genocide”. In Amsterdam, a handful of people gathered in the Beursplein holding Israeli flags.

What were they protesting?

Since mid-April, there have been outbreaks of violence between Israel and Palestine. These have included multiple incidences between the Israeli police and Palestinians, the use of tear gas against protesters on the Gaza border, and Israel threatening to evict Palestinian families in East Jerusalem. Missiles and drone strikes have been carried out by both Israel and Gaza (a Palestinian territory.) This is part of an ongoing conflict between the two states which has lasted since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

READ MORE| European Court of Justice has ruled Israeli settlement goods sold in Europe must carry origin-identifying tags

Israel maintains that any missiles fired at Gaza are out of protection. The Israeli army claim that over 3,000 have been fired by Gaza in the last week. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the overall death toll in Gaza from the recent conflicts stands at 197 including 58 children, reports the NOS.

Rutte’s response

Yesterday, the Dutch prime minister spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel and Palestinian President Abbas where he urged both leaders to end the violence. After this talk, Rutte expressed his concerns in an official statement. “I am concerned that more and more civilians, including many children, are becoming victims of the violence,” he said.

Controversial comments

As well as his pleas for peace, Rutte has made some comments that have been met with criticism. Both in his statement and on social media he condemned rocket fire on Israel. He stated that Israel has a right to protect itself.

READ MORE | The Netherlands and Trump — 5 times it was orange vs orange

“I am very concerned about the ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza. It is unacceptable for Hamas to randomly fire rockets at the civilian population. The Netherlands supports Israel’s right to self-defence, within the limits of international law and proportionality,” the Prime Minister said in the tweet. He faced an immediate backlash claiming that his tweet was one-sided.

In his statement yesterday, he also expressed concerns over the situation in the West Bank. He urged Palestinian families who are threatened with deportation to stay in their homes. He also called for peace in sacred sites.

What do you think about the Dutch response to the events in Gaza? Tell us in the comments!

Feature Image: Yousef Salahmoud/Unsplash

The Netherlands expects to see further relaxations on Wednesday

Jana Vondráčková 🇨🇿
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The Netherlands expects to see further relaxations on Wednesday

In the latest press conference, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that if there are 20% fewer coronavirus infections in Dutch hospitals, the Netherlands will see the next round of relaxations on May 19.

Now, after closely observing the numbers, the government is expected to officially announce that the Netherlands will go ahead with step two of the five-step plan to reopening. 

Today is the last day that the government can implement the so-called emergency brake option (whereby they would halt relaxations for the time being). However, looking at the current coronavirus figures, there is no reason for this to happen.

The number of patients admitted to the ICU with coronavirus has fallen for the seventh day in a row and the other figures also look promising, reports RTL Nieuws. 

Fewer hospital admissions and fewer infections 

The government had said it would only allow further relaxations if the number of hospital admissions due to coronavirus falls by 20% compared to the peak on April 21.

As of now, the average number of new admissions to the ICU has fallen by 22% and the average number of admissions to the nursing ward by more than 24%, when considering the seven-day average.

For example, on Saturday, 710 patients with coronavirus required intensive care. On Sunday, this number fell by 24.

Infections are also going down and yesterday, the Netherlands reported 4,494 new infections. The week before that, this number was 6,648. 

Step two of the reopening plan

Given these figures and the government’s plan, it is expected that from Wednesday onwards, the government will allow further relaxations. Under these, terraces will have extended opening hours, from 6 AM until 8 PM. 

In addition, zoos, amusement parks, music schools, and theatres will be allowed to reopen in open-air environments. More relaxations will also be introduced for sports — adults will be able to exercise outside in a team and gyms will reopen with appointment slots. 

Step three on the way?

On June 1, the Dutch cabinet is expected to make a decision about step three of relaxations. This includes eating indoors in restaurants, museums reopening, and receiving more visitors at home. If the step three relaxations go ahead, they will take effect on June 9 earliest. 

Are you happy to see another set of relaxations in the Netherlands? Let us know in the comments below!

Feature Image: Louis Hansel/Unsplash

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