Covid-19: Dutch King to give televised speech tonight

King Willem-Alexander will address the country in a televised speech regarding the situation around coronavirus Covid-19 at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening, government information service RVD just announced.

The speech will be broadcast live by NOS, RTL, SBS/Talpa and other regional broadcasters. NPO Politiek will include a sign language interpreter. NL Times will provide a full English-language translation after the speech.

It is rare for the Dutch King to address the country outside his annual Christmas Speech. The last time this happened was after the MH17 disaster in 2014, according to NOS.

On Monday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte also gave a televised speech about the coronavirus. Rutte was the first Prime Minister to address the Dutch nation in such a way since 1973.