The telephone is ringing off the hook at the GGD today, after the announcement by Minister De Jonge yesterday that personnel in healthcare and education will be given priority in corona tests.
“We received 30 percent more phone calls this morning than usual on a Saturday,” says GGD director Sjaak de Gouw. “A lot of people said they work in education and asked if they could be tested today.”
The minister already indicated yesterday evening that the priority cannot take effect immediately. “We are now working with the sector organizations to see how we are going to organize it all,” says de Gouw. “The first people will have priority testing at the end of next week.”
72 hours waiting time
The GGD director also emphasizes that calling immediately at 08:00 is not necessary. “We have 1,400 employees in our call center. If 30,000 people call immediately in the morning, at least 28,000 are on hold. And experience shows that people who call later in the day can usually be tested on the same day as the people who call. call in the morning. “
The waiting time between such a phone call and the corona test has now increased to at least 72 hours.
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