Prime Minister Mark Rutte disputes the suggestion that since the start of the corona crisis, the government has paid too little attention to the distribution of protective equipment among care staff in care homes and home care. At the same time, he does not rule out mistakes made. “In crises it is inevitable that mistakes will be made,” he said on Friday after the cabinet meeting.
The Outbreak Management Team wrote this week that shortages of personal protective equipment and limited testing capacity have played a role in the spread of the virus in nursing homes. Verenso, the association of specialists in geriatric medicine, announced on Thursday that the number of deceased residents has increased more than fivefold in the period from April 1 to April 14.
Verenso chairman Nienke Nieuwenhuizen said in a briefing in the House of Representatives that much attention is paid to the capacity in intensive care, but that nursing homes are still seeing an increase in the number of infections.
New system must ensure better distribution
Rutte does not believe that too much attention has been paid to hospital care from the beginning of the corona crisis. “That is not my observation,” he said. According to Rutte, it is understandable that much attention has been paid to IC capacity. “If there were a shortage of beds there, we would have had to make choices about who can and who cannot use the IC.”
However, the prime minister acknowledges that things have probably gone wrong, but he does not now consider it time for evaluations. Rutte hopes that with a new centrally organized system, the protective equipment will be better distributed among all healthcare personnel. The test capacity has also been expanded, which, according to the Prime Minister, should make it possible to test all healthcare personnel with mild corona complaints.
“Do on your face what you want to do on your face”
Regarding the availability of the mouth masks, he said that it will remain exciting in the near future, because there is simply scarcity. On the use of mouth masks in public space, he repeated Thursday’s call that mouth protection will not replace the 1.5 meter society.
“Do on your face what you want to do on your face, but stay at home,” he said. On Thursday in the parliamentary debate, he said that face masks can play a role in easing measures to reopen barber shops, for example.
At the same time, the prime minister is dampening expectations. Next week, when the cabinet announces whether the restrictive measures will be extended, it will probably be repeated that the 1.5 meter distance, washing hands and staying at home as much as possible will remain the norm for the time being.
Follow the latest developments around the virus in our live blog.
The coronavirus in short
–
–
–
– .
