Netherlands ill-prepared for new COVID-19 wave: experts
THE HAGUE, May 16– The Netherlands is not adequately prepared for a potential severe new COVID-19 wave this coming autumn and may have to consider another lockdown, experts told national broadcaster NOS on Monday. “I will keep my feet on the ground,” Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Ernst Kuipers said at the time. Several MPs doubt whether the National…
THE HAGUE, May 16 (Xinhua) — The Netherlands is not adequately prepared for a potential severe new COVID-19 wave this coming autumn and may have to consider another lockdown, experts told national broadcaster NOS on Monday.
Two years after announcing the country’s first lockdown, the Dutch government abolished the last coronavirus measures in March this year.
“I will keep my feet on the ground,” Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Ernst Kuipers said at the time. “I am seriously taking into account that the virus may return with a vengeance next autumn.”
The question is how to tackle such a new wave. Talking to NOS, experts — hospital directors, virologists and scientists — voiced their concern that the government kept silent about a potential new COVID-19 wave later this year.
Although the current infection figures are low, experts think that there is good reason to prepare for a new lockdown as the country’s hospitals are already struggling with staff shortages.
The government is scheduled to spell out its long-term approach to the pandemic next month. On Monday, members of parliament (MPs) quizzed experts on the details of that plan.
Several MPs doubt whether the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) will be able to signal the start of a new COVID-19 wave in time considering that it is no longer necessary to have possible coronavirus infections confirmed by tests conducted by the Municipal Public Health Services (GGDs).
Politicians also question the GGD’s ability to launch a mass vaccination campaign quick enough to respond to a possible new wave. Enditem
