Earlier on Saturday, the ministry announced that the GGDs had meanwhile been scaled up enough to help everyone in time. The GGDs would have managed to scale up enough to handle the demand.
‘Getting capacity in order’
The test streets attracted far fewer people for weeks than they could handle, but in recent days “demand has continued to rise,” the ministry said.
The GGDs are deploying more staff to test and help everyone in time, but this is not yet possible everywhere. Where the queues are still too long, “we are working hard to get the capacity in order. In some regions, it can take a little more time and effort,” the department said.
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Swerve with testing
In recent days, people in North Brabant and Zeeland have sometimes had to wait longer than the maximum 48 hours that have been prescribed. In South Holland, test results sometimes took more than 72 hours on Saturday.
The GGDs state that they strive to test an applicant ‘the same day or the next day’. In busy areas, for example, they try to divert to test locations in less crowded neighboring regions.
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Care staff priority
In order to prevent the epidemic from flaring up again, it is crucial to know as soon as possible whether someone has indeed been infected. Then it can be isolated and it can no longer ignite others.
The increasing waiting time means that calls for care personnel to give priority to testing are getting louder. The NU’91 union, among others, made itself heard again. A healthcare worker is forced to sit at home awaiting the result and the search for people to whom he or she may have passed the virus is delayed, the union recalls.
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