The Netherlands has four risk levels for the corona virus. From lowest to highest, these are vigilant, worrisome, serious and very serious. Two numbers determine the level of risk in a region: the number of positive tests and the number of hospitalizations. The number of inhabitants is taken into account. Until the end of May, all 25 security regions were rated very serious. Currently ten regions are at the lowest level, vigilant, and the other fifteen regions are a step up, at worrisome.
In two regions, the situation is already very serious, Minister of Health Hugo de Jonge wrote to the House of Representatives in the night from Friday to Saturday. He did not name the regions, but the only two that met the conditions for ‘very serious’ at that time were Amsterdam-Amstelland and Groningen. There, more than 250 out of 100,000 inhabitants had tested positive in a week. The situation only got worse over the weekend. Nearly 4,400 residents in Amsterdam and the surrounding area have tested positive in the past seven days. Converted that comes down to 410 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The week before, there were only 47 positive tests per 100,000 people. Groningen had 333.3 new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days, an increase of 989 percent compared to the previous week.
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But the virus is spreading like an oil slick. Since De Jonge’s letter, the province of Utrecht has also crossed the line from very serious. There were no fewer than 1,541 positive tests on Saturday. That is a national record: never before have so many infections been registered in a single day in any region. The regions of Kennemerland, Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Hollands Midden, Gooi en Vechtstreek and Haaglanden are still one or two days away from ‘very serious’ with many positive tests. Then eight parts of the Netherlands, all of which are still worrisome, would jump to the highest level.
Nine regions are heading for the second highest risk level, serious. These are Twente, IJsselland, North and East Gelderland, Gelderland-Midden, Gelderland-South, Zaanstreek-Waterland, South Holland-South, Central and West Brabant and Brabant-Southeast. Brabant-North may be added to this.
The remaining seven regions are likely to be worrisome after Tuesday, their second lowest risk level. These are North Holland North, Friesland, South Limburg, Flevoland, Drenthe, Zeeland and Limburg North. No region is then on alert.
The Netherlands will probably also change color on the European corona map next week. Now the country is still predominantly orange, with some green areas here and there, thanks to the corona lee that ended last week. But on the new map, from next Thursday, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Groningen will probably turn red. As a result of that card, other countries can advise their citizens against coming to the Netherlands, and they can set strict conditions for Dutch people who want to come and celebrate a holiday.
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