More than 8,700 healthcare and education employees call on first day for a corona test | NOW

On the first day that healthcare and education personnel are given priority testing for the presence of the coronavirus, 8,706 people from those industries contacted the dedicated phone number. A spokesman for the GGD GHOR reports this to NU.nl on Monday evening

Of the callers, 6,736 people received an appointment for a test, more than three-quarters of the total number of people who sought contact.

The GGD and the Ministry of Health have opened the number 0800-8101 since 8 a.m. on Monday to make an appointment for this group immediately.

“It was busy, which is also to be expected with people who may have wanted to get tested for longer,” said the spokesman. “There was a wait all day and sometimes people were asked to call again.” The GGD reported in advance on a few thousand tests per day for these two specific groups.

The special telephone line where healthcare and education personnel can report with priority for a corona test was already unavailable after half an hour on Monday morning due to traffic. Whoever called the number was told that too many people are calling and that no one can answer.

‘Some of them were probably not a care or education worker’

The umbrella organization of GGDs could not say why some of the callers did not get an appointment. “Some will probably not be a care or education worker. And some will not yet have the correct papers from the employer.” From Tuesday or Wednesday, the GGD will record why requests are read.

To ensure that only teachers and nursing staff call the number, two checks are carried out: the caller is first checked on the phone and then also on the test street. They need a statement from their employer showing that they belong to the target group.

For a long time, the cabinet did not want to make a distinction between professional groups, but in response to concerns about staff shortages in the House of Representatives, nevertheless entered into a discussion with the GGD about the possibilities.

De Jonge has quickly promised more test capacity

Hugo de Jonge, Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, is busy increasing the lab capacity. To this end, he has made agreements with three parties abroad. He expects the capacity problems to be resolved by early October. Only when more lab capacity is available can the test capacity be further scaled up.

Now almost 37,000 corona tests can be performed daily. The minister hopes that this will be 50,000 a day by the end of September.

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