Most people who have been to northern Italy and have been infected stay in home quarantine for two weeks. The same applies to a woman from Eindhoven, who has been placed in quarantine with her partner. They spend most of the day in separate rooms, do not sleep together and hardly leave the house. When they come into each other’s room, they wear a mouth cap.
Whether the virus is under control? That is too early to say, Prime Minister Rutte said after a crisis meeting with the government. “Contaminated people are still being added,” the prime minister said. According to Rutte, the Netherlands is now in the “containment phase”. The main purpose of the meeting was to be well prepared for the next phase. “When it comes? I can’t say anything about that.”
Everyday life should continue as usual, was the message from Rutte. “Children can go to school as usual. Meetings can continue as usual and we cannot cancel major events.”
Economy
The economic impact of the virus is difficult to predict, according to the Central Planning Bureau. The CPB believes that the economy will grow by 1.4 percent this year, but that is only the case if the virus is brought under control quickly. If that does not happen, growth may be more than half lower.
Companies are already noticing the effects of the corona virus. 316 companies have now turned to the Ministry of Social Affairs for a reduction of working time, a scheme that allows companies to temporarily reduce the number of hours of staff for which there is no work. Staff then receive a payment for the hours not worked.
Director Jaap van Dissel of the Center for Infectious Disease Control of the RIVM told yesterday to members of the House of Representatives that corona patients might need to be spread over the Netherlands in order to prevent health care from becoming overloaded. The spread is not yet under discussion, but may come into view if the number of infections increases.
How is someone tested for the corona virus? We explain it below:
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