The Outbreak Management Team (OMT) will be meeting today to discuss the usage of face masks in public spaces in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

They have been asked by the Cabinet to research how face masks can be widely used in order to prevent the spread of the virus, RTL Nieuws reports.

This comes after the number of new coronavirus cases spiked last week.  A survey also revealed that a majority of Dutch people are in favour of wearing a face mask in public indoor areas.

A press conference may follow later today with the recommendations and policies from the OMT. There are concerns that the Dutch are also less compliant with coronavirus rules. In areas where the 1.5-metre distance can’t be respected, such as on shopping streets or in stores, a face mask may offer vital protection against the virus.

The Cabinet has also asked the Outbreak Management Team to look into the possibility of testing people who come from high-risk areas, even if they have no health complaints. This way, those who test negative will also need to spend less time in quarantine upon arrival in the Netherlands.

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There might be a shortage of coronavirus tests in the Netherlands by autumn.

Currently, there are 20,000 tests being conducted on a daily basis in the Netherlands. RIVM estimates that there will be a need for 70,000 daily tests by autumn, meaning that the testing capacity needs to be extended considerably, reports RTL Nieuws.

Autumn is usually the season where people report common cold symptoms. Because of this, more tests will be needed then to take into account all the people who will want to get tested.

Over the past few days, it has become clear that the GGDs cannot test everyone within 24 hours. More staff has been deployed to aid with the testing, but this has not been possible everywhere throughout the Netherlands. In South Holland, it can take up to 72 hours before the result of a test is known.

Three months of test supply

Laboratories currently need to keep stock of tests for three months at a time. However, there’s uncertainty if that will be enough by the time autumn starts and the testing capacity needs to be expanded.

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A Leiden-based pharmaceutical company, Janssen Vaccines, has begun trialling a coronavirus vaccine on humans. Janssen Vaccines is owned by Johnson & Johnson.

Originally, the clinical test phase of this vaccine were only set to begin in September, but because of “encouraging preclinical data and collaboration with authorities” they have been able to start sooner with testing the vaccine on humans, NOS reports.  At the moment, the potential vaccine is being trialled on 1045 healthy adults in the US and Belgium, aged 18 to 65.

This part of the testing process does not actually evaluate if the vaccine protects against coronavirus, but rather checks what the side effects of getting the vaccine are. In September, the potential vaccine will  be tested to see if it stops people from getting coronavirus, or at least protects against serious cases of the virus.

According to the head of Janssen’s vaccine programme, Johan Van Hoof, the next phase of vaccine testing will require a lot more people to be recruited. If the results of the next phase of testing are encouraging, then we could expect to see a vaccine available to the general public in early 2021: but of course, that’s a best-case scenario.

There are currently 163 potential coronavirus vaccines underway around the world, of which 23 are being tested on humans. A Chinese vaccine and one from the Jenner Institute in Oxford, England, are the most advanced in the testing process. They produced encouraging results when tested on humans.

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According to research by the discrimination centre in Amsterdam, anti-black racism is widespread and underreported in the region.

In the Netherlands, racism is catalogued in research as “discrimination on skin colour/ origin”. Because of this, it remains an underestimated problem, Het Parool reports.

Underreported and underestimated

In recent years, the phenomenon of racism has started to be registered in Amsterdam. According to the research, one in five reports on discrimination comes from people of African or Afro-Caribbean descent.

Vincent Verkoelen, director of the Discrimination Center for the Amsterdam Region (MDRA), states that “The size of this category is so large that it justifies specific investigation and registration.” He continues by saying that anti-black racism should receive as much administrative attention as other forms of discrimination. “While some forms of discrimination are much smaller in size, they are very much zoomed in on. Anti-black racism has never been treated or registered separately.”

Many forms of racism against black people

Black people in the Netherlands suffer discrimination in ways that are well-known, such as the association with slavery and Zwarte Piet. There are more subtle discriminations as well, such as the ones related to hair. “Hairstyle discrimination is a form of institutional racism where straight hair is considered superior,” Verkoel explains. “In the US, a law was passed in 2019 prohibiting discrimination against natural hair, such as Afro’s and braids.”

There have been more than 100 reports of anti-black racism in Amsterdam in 2019. It comes in many shapes, from young children using the n-word in mostly white classes with a couple of black students, to black customers being refused service in restaurants.

The report concludes that as long as anti-black racism is registered the same as other forms of discrimination, it will be impossible to successfully tackle.

If you would like to know more about racism in the Netherlands, you can read more here. If you would like to get involved in anti-racism movements in the Netherlands beyond just social media, check out this article.

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Over half of the Dutch population believes face masks should be mandatory in public indoor areas.

These results come from a weekly poll conducted by Maurice De Hond. The idea of mandatory face masks seems to be echoed throughout the entire political spectrum, except for far-right political parties. For example, respondents from CDA and PvdA show overwhelming support for mandatory face masks ( almost 65%). On the other end, Forum for Democracy and the PVV showed less enthusiasm, with 40% and 36% support respectively.

Part of the reason why support for face masks in public indoor areas has gone up can potentially be explained by the surge of coronavirus cases of last week.

The survey showed that 41% of respondents feel that some of the relaxations of the coronavirus measures (which started on 1 July) should be reversed. Politically speaking, more than half of the supporters of ChristenUnie, GroenLinks, CDA, SP and 50Plus want the relaxation to be stopped. Half of the supporters of FVD and PVV want the relaxation to continue.

Last Friday, the TV program EenVandaag also conducted their separate poll on the issue, reporting that two out of three people believe that face masks should be mandatory in public indoor spaces in case coronavirus infections continue to rise. Last week, the mayors of Amsterdam and Rotterdam have also called for research into implementing mandatory face masks in some settings.

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People with Dutch partners which were separated by the coronavirus crisis may now return to the Netherlands.

Starting from today, the entry ban has been relaxed for foreign lovers that have Dutch partners but were unable to come due to coronavirus travel restrictions. The Netherlands, like other European countries, has closed its borders to people from outside of Europe who do not have an essential reason to be here.

There are certain conditions, such as that they prove they have a long-lasting relationship, according to RTL Nieuws.

Upon coming to the Netherlands, they must declare that they had a relationship for at least three months, in which they’ve seen their Dutch partner regularly. If they come from a country that falls under the orange code of risk, they are advised to enter quarantine for 14 days.

Coming to the Netherlands and want to know more about the situation of the coronavirus here? You can read more about the current coronavirus measures in our weekly updated guide. You can also read more if you want to know about travelling to, from and inside the Netherlands during the current crisis.

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