Meanwhile, the virus raged on, leading to a peak of 1322 patients at intensive care units on April 7. On March 20, the king held a speech to support the Dutch people in fighting the disease. Although people did not like the measures, the lively sign language interpreter at the press conferences was very popular. Restaurants and bars had to close but were allowed to offer take-away/delivery service of their food products. Only necessary businesses, (all) shops and public transportation were allowed to continue their operations if they took into account the health and 1.5 m-distance regulations. Several recreation areas and beach roads were closed to prevent people from gathering too closely, especially after much crowding on that sunny weekend in March. At regular press conferences (some of which were watched by over 7 million people), further measures were announced, including closing all nursery homes to visitors, limiting the number of funeral visitors to 30, and prohibiting parties of more than 2 people (except household members). After this announcement, churches canceled their services, universities changed to online teaching, many shops temporarily closed, and public transportation was heavily reduced. The aim was protecting people against the virus while keeping the economy running as much as possible. “Intelligent lockdown measures” were announced March 12, including cancellation of events with over 100 people, limited visits to the elderly and other vulnerable people, and advice to work at home whenever possible. The first national government measure was a social distancing policy accompanied by sanitary advice and a request to stay at home as much as possible, announced at a press conference on March 9. Initially, the government seemed to be aiming for group immunity, but later realized this was not feasible. Massive testing was impossible due to the limited number of available tests, which were reserved for hospital personnel only. Initially, the Municipal Health Services traced the course of infections, but they had to give it up soon. The first Covid-19-death was observed March 6. Due to visits abroad and the Dutch carnival in the south of the country, the first Covid-19 infection occurred February 27, 2020, followed by more cases after travelers returned from winter sport in Italy and Austria.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |