In the Netherlands, the number of infections is low, but in the countries around us the coronavirus lives on here and there. To curb those outbreaks, several countries are choosing to introduce a lockdown in some regions.
There are virtually no plans in the Netherlands for such local or regional lockdowns, according to a tour of the NOS along various safety regions and GGDs.
An exception is the Noord-Holland Noord safety region. In a short response, he says that he has prepared a scenario in which a lockdown is mentioned as the last option in the event of an outbreak.
The Ministry of Health says that a regional lockdown is one of the possibilities that security regions have, but emphasizes that this will not happen soon and “really is the very last step”.
“There are a lot of measures in place, such as stopping an event, adjusting shopping times or closing the pubs. If you would decide something like that, it is really impossible to say. There is no list of ‘with this number of infections , we will take these measures, “said a spokesman for Minister De Jonge.
Many tests
The corona epidemic must now be tackled mainly regionally and locally. Local measures prevent the entire country from having to be partially locked again. It is intended that a revival of the virus can be quickly recognized by the data in it crownedhboard. It shows, among other things, how many hospital admissions there are and the outcome of sewage measurements.
However, none of the regional parties that spoke to the NIS could say which values lead to which actions. It is therefore unclear what exactly happens when there is a strong revival somewhere in the Netherlands that cannot be linked to a clear source.
Currently, the way to tackle the virus is mainly focused on many tests, quarantining infected people and detecting new infections via source and contact research.
The authorities involved seem to be so confident about this that scenarios requiring a regional lockdown are considered very unlikely by them. “We don’t have any thoughts about that, we’re looking at what’s going on now,” said one of them.
‘Theoretically it is possible’
“Theoretically, a regional lockdown is possible,” says a spokesman for RIVM. But it is not very likely. “The Netherlands is such a small country. It faces so many practical objections.” If you close the catering industry in one place, how do you ensure that the residents do not visit the catering industry in a neighboring municipality?
It is logical that measures are taken for “a specific setting”, as RIVM calls it. In other words, an outbreak among students can lead to measures being taken at universities, rather than in a particular city.
According to RIVM, there are no plans available for a regional lockdown, just as there were no plans for the national ‘intelligent lockdown’ at the beginning of this year. Infectious disease control is “far too dynamic” for this; it is difficult to predict properly, said the spokesman.
In the event of a larger outbreak, the mayor who presides over the Security Region can, on the advice of the GGD, decide to take drastic measures. In practice, however, this will always be done in consultation with the Ministry and the RIVM, says the Security Council, which speaks on behalf of the chairmen of the 25 security regions.
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