The umbrella organization of the 25 GGDs in the Netherlands reports that the problem occurs in all test streets, and therefore also in our province. “Zeeland is indeed no exception, unfortunately,” confirms spokesman Sonja Kloppenburg. The GGD Zeeland was not available for comment today.
Laboratories overloaded
According to the GGDs, administering a corona test only makes sense if the test can actually be performed in a test lab. According to the umbrella organization of the GGDs, the Dutch laboratories are currently overloaded, so that expanding the testing options makes no sense.
You can only make an appointment for a maximum of three days in advance. When the capacity is reached, you will not be put on a waiting list. You have to try again at a later time if there is a hole.
Make multiple calls
This means, among other things, that many people have to call several times before they can get a spot. This in turn has the consequence that the national telephone line for making an appointment at a test street is overloaded. The website where you can make such an appointment, coronatest.nl, is also regularly overloaded.
Kloppenburg understands that this is sometimes frustrating, but according to her, the GGDs cannot do much about it. “Only when more lab capacity becomes available can we meet the demand. And that’s what the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is about.”
‘Force of the majority’
She also sees the great willingness of people to be tested as a good sign. “We welcome that. And we find it extremely annoying that we cannot help people as quickly as we would like due to force majeure.”
She advises anyone who has complaints but is unable to make an appointment for a test, to stay at home and to keep their distance from others. “When the symptoms worsen, it is best to contact your doctor,” says Kloppenburg.
Cancel appointment
And if the complaints disappear in the meantime, you no longer need to be tested at the GGD GHOR Nederland. Even if you do have an appointment, but the complaints disappear, you will be called to cancel the appointment. This also frees up space in the test streets for people who still have complaints.
Nationwide there is a lot of criticism of the problems with lab capacity. For example, errors were said to have been made in distributing the test work over the different laboratories. Larger test labs would not yet be used at their full capacity, but agreements made would prevent that unused test capacity from being utilized. Several parties in the House of Representatives have therefore called on Minister Hugo de Jonge of VWS to come up with a solution quickly.
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