The PvdA believes that the OMT should meet early to advise on the increasing number of corona infections and hospital admissions. Pressure on intensive care units is increasing, care is being postponed in some places and patients are once again dispersed throughout the country. “The cabinet is deafeningly silent. And you cannot wait in a crisis, no matter how tired everyone is,” said PvdA MP Attje Kuiken in Goedemorgen Nederland on NPO 1. “We have to act, otherwise it will simply be too late.”
What exactly needs to happen then is up to the OMT and the cabinet, says Kuiken. “But you can think of reintroducing mouth caps in some places, that one and a half meter measure or stricter enforcement of the corona pass. In any case, action is needed.”
For the first time since July 23, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reported on Sunday more than 6000 new corona infections in a day. The total number of corona patients in Dutch hospitals is 748 on Sunday, 45 more than on Saturday. Of these, 185 patients are in intensive care, 6 more than Saturday.
“I all understand that we are more than tired of corona and that we no longer maintain that and that we no longer want to act on it. But so are the nurses on the ICUs, and so are the mothers waiting for their child’s surgery,” says Kuiken. “So we need to take joint action.”
The Outbreak Management Team (OMT) is the government’s main advisor in the fight against the corona virus. The experts will meet next Friday for a new advice to the cabinet. Exactly one week later, a new corona press conference with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge is planned.
Vaccination rate
When it comes to vaccination coverage, there is still work to be done in some areas in the Netherlands, says Kuiken. “I think with more information in some areas you can reach more people. For example, the group of pregnant women is very concerned,” says the PvdA member. “They would like a shot, but are very concerned about their unborn child. Provide very specific information about this, to ensure that we reduce the pressure on the ICs.”
ALSO READ: ‘Hospitals in the west of the Netherlands have not yet arrived at deferred care’
By: Marinka Wagemans
–
