The waiting time for a test is also increasing in the Netherlands. Every day about 10,000 people can call the GGD not go for an appointment. “We have also been seeing for weeks that the waiting time has increased to several days, so you can conclude that we are lagging behind in Europe in terms of testing policy, “says epidemiologist Roosendaal.” Only countries like Bulgaria test relatively fewer inhabitants, which is a bit painful. “With the caveat that testing is only part of the approach .
As said before, Germany is seen as a great example. “You usually have an appointment for a test within one day, the result two, at most three days after,” says correspondent Judith van de Hulsbeek. “But that can change quickly. Due to the increasing demand for test materials worldwide, the test capacity may decrease in the coming weeks. , warned the Robert Koch Institute, the German RIVM.
Deaths and hospitalizations
In all European countries, the number of deaths and IC admissions is still a fraction of those during the first months of the corona crisis. Yet these numbers are also rising and experts warn that hospitals can expect a multitude of corona patients. In Delft and Amsterdam, for example, regular care is already coming under pressure.
This also happens locally in Spain. Correspondent Rop Zoutberg: “According to government figures, the pressure on the IC departments is still low and only one of the five beds for corona patients is used nationally. But according to doctors’ organizations, the IC beds are certainly full again in and around Madrid and other operations are being postponed. . “
Nationally, such dire situations are not yet an issue in countries that have been studied under the microscope. But in all these European countries the number of positively tested residents has increased in recent times. It is still too early to judge which country has the best approach, Roosendaal concludes. “If you write a book about it in five years, then we really know.”
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