Dutch gov't gathering for coronavirus crisis meeting

The government is holding a crisis meeting on how to deal with coronavirus Covid-19 on Tuesday morning. The so-called "ministerial crisis management committee' will gather to discuss the current state of affairs, how effective the current measures are, and whether further measures are needed, RTL Nieuws reports.

Attendees of the meeting includes Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Minister Bruno Bruins for Medical Care, Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security, and public health institute RIVM.

This committee gathers in the event of a crisis - something that puts national security at sake or has a major impact on society. Such meetings are rare. They previously happened after the flight MH17 disaster in 2014, the mass shooting on an Utrecht tram last year, and the Mexican flu in 2009.

A total of 19 people in the Netherlands have been diagnosed with the new strain of the coronavirus. The first ten cases were confirmed late last week and over the weekend. Eight more cases were confirmed on Monday afternoon. And the latest diagnosis was made late on Monday.

The newest patient is a 5-year-old child from Alphen aan den Rijn, who is believed to have been infected last week during a holiday in northern Italy, according to NOS. The child has not been to school after the holidays and is quarantined at home.

As far as is known, this child is the second child to be diagnosed with Covid-19 in the Netherlands. The first child is the toddler-aged son of an Amsterdam woman, who was the second person to be diagnosed with Covid-19 in the Netherlands.

According to the RIVM, it is not yet necessary for schools in the country to close. But the health service stressed that children returning from areas with many Covid-19 infections who are showing respiratory symptoms or have a fever must stay home and recover completely before returning to school.