This week, Minister Hugo de Jonge launched the plan to have the test capacity scaled up so massively from March 2021 that every Dutch person can have himself tested every month. Society should be able to unlock more with such massive tests, the minister said.
‘Not realistic’
That doesn’t seem like a realistic strategy, says research leader Marc Bonten. More targeted measures will be needed.
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The idea is that if testing can be done so massively, people can be tested without complaints. In this way, the ‘asymptomatic spreaders’ can also be detected and isolated. The fact that the coronavirus can also be spread by people who feel chicken is one of the difficulties in reducing the virus.
Test every three days
The researchers calculated that without measures such as keeping their distance, every Dutch person would have to have themselves tested every three days to keep the epidemic under control. And even if the 1.5 meter society remains the norm for a while, that would still mean that ten million Dutch people would have to be tested every week.
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The model study did not take the possible effect of a vaccine into account.
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