A vaccine seems to be getting closer, said Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) on Tuesday evening during the press conference about the corona virus. That is why he asks the Dutch to “hold on for a while”.
Agreements have now been made with five suppliers for the delivery of vaccines. “The first test results are encouraging. We hope to receive the first vaccines in the first months of 2021,” De Jonge said during the press conference.
“We still have to keep it up. For frail older people, people with a disability or a lung disease. It is precisely because the virus distinguishes between us that we need togetherness. We will only overcome this crisis as one society.”
Despite the fact that De Jonge sees a vaccine as “the best card”, he emphasizes that research into treatment methods is also being used. This in case there is no vaccine.
Cabinet is committed to testing and tracing policy
The government will make efforts in the coming months to improve the testing and tracing policy, it was already apparent just before the press conference. Letter to Parliament by De Jonge.
In addition, the cabinet wants to be clearer in communication about the spread and control of the corona virus. That is why there will be a “regional classification level“where people can see more clearly than before how things are going in their region.
Earlier on Tuesday it turned out that the number of infections in the Netherlands is stabilizing. Last week, 3,597 Dutch people were tested positive for the corona virus. That is almost as many as the week before (3,588).
“Keeping to the agreements and measures now results in a positive effect”, lit up the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in discussion with NU.nl. “But that does not alter the fact that we still register more than 3,500 positive people every week.”
Two weeks ago gifts Rutte and De Jonge for the last time a press conference. Because the number of infections increased sharply at the time, they strongly advised not to throw any more parties at home. The advice to work from home as much as possible was then also extended indefinitely.
COVID-19 broke out in the Netherlands about six months ago. According to the cabinet’s original roadmap, many measures would be relaxed by 1 September.
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