“Young people often do not belong to a high-risk group”, explains communication and influencing professor Enny Das of Radboud University. “They see among their peers that they may become ill, but not end up in intensive care or die as quickly. That means that they have a different picture of the virus.”
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People in their twenties most often test positive
Figures from the RIVM show that since 1 June – the date from which anyone with complaints can have themselves tested – nearly 200,000 people have tested positive for the corona virus. Almost a quarter were between 20 and 29 years old. “People in their twenties are therefore the age group in which the corona virus is circulating the fastest during this second wave”, explains Jasper Bunskoek, data journalist at RTL Nieuws.
From 1 June to yesterday, RIVM already registered 47,523 positively tested people in their twenties. Yet, according to the same RIVM figures, only 61 of them have ended up in hospital. Not a single young person died according to the figures. Bunskoek: “It should be noted that in more than 10,000 cases, often recent, the RIVM does not yet know whether there was hospitalization. But this is already known for the majority and we can see that less than 0.2 percent of infected people in their twenties ended up in hospital. “
“The seriousness of the coronavirus for people in their twenties is therefore very different from that for people over 70. Less than 15,000 of them tested positive since June,” says Bunskoek. But an infection in this group is much more likely to lead to hospitalization. We already know that 984 people over 70 have been admitted to hospital, which is almost 10 percent of all cases for which it is known whether or not they were admitted. In addition, at least 605 people over 70 have died with the corona virus since 1 June.
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Positive tests by age group since 1 June
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Telling people in their twenties that the virus can make you very sick is therefore probably not the way to convince them of the importance of the measures, Das thinks. “Their perceived chance of serious consequences is too low for that. In other words: they believe it less, because they see around them that it has not been so far in their environment.”
Contradictory
Levi van Dam also sees this. During the first wave, the researcher at the University of Amsterdam spoke to young people in collaboration with the RIVM about their experience of the corona crisis and the measures taken. “It is very contradictory, we should all have as little contact with people outside our household as possible, but our research and that of German colleagues showed that young people obey the rules better if they have someone who tells them that it is for him or her. hair is important. Someone who himself has a vulnerable health, for example. “
That person could be an aunt or uncle, or a sports coach, who often works better in this age stage than a parent or peer, says Van Dam. “Peers themselves often run just as little risk, and at that age you listen less to your parents, especially when you and your parents are all in a stressful situation, as is the case now.”
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Appealing person
But there are also other ways to make the problem tangible for young people, says Das. “This can be done, for example, by saying that you are protecting your grandmother, but also, for example, by using an appealing person with whom young people have an affinity, or by mentioning locations or situations that they have to deal with.”
The latter is what is happening in the campaign that Minister Van Engelshoven is launching this afternoon. This campaign is an initiative of the National Chamber of Associations, an umbrella body of 48 student associations. “We want to appeal to students about things they recognize,” says chair Denise van de Sant. For example, they will point out to Nijmegen students that if they stick to the measures now, they will be able to encourage runners again next summer during the Nijmegen Four Days Marches.
My city
“With that they say: this is about me, about my city”, says Das. “And what can also help: these are students who set the standard, not an abstract government, but people like them. Who say: this is the behavior we stand for. That can work well.” That is also what the umbrella organization of student associations is hoping for. Van de Sant: “The posters also show acquaintances from student life in their city. To show: this person you know adheres to the rules and thinks that is important.”
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Another thing that could help, according to Das, is the method that Diederik Gommers uses: listening and giving answers without judgment, ‘almost fatherly’. “I thought it was impressive how he did that with Famke Louise. Judgments and punishments often evoke resistance, which is counterproductive. Gommers can take someone by the hand like no other and lead them in the right direction. Of course I don’t know how he will do it tonight. will tackle, but if he does it in the same way as he did then Jinek, then I can imagine that it works. “
Second wave
What Das wants to guard against is the idea that the communication as it is up to now is ‘wrong’ and has led to the new corona wave. “Of course that is not the case, even if the communication had been perfect, there would have been a second wave.”
Van de Sant also does not think it is a matter of poor communication or that people do not want to obey the rules. “But it is very difficult. Especially for young people and students who often have an extensive social life. For example, how do you keep enough distance when you live in a student house with the fifteen of you? We do not want to condemn, but we do want to provide tools to do better. . “
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