Dutch PM, Health Minister to give Covid press conference tonight

Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health will give another press conference on the state of affairs around the coronavirus at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The expectation is that they will announce new measures, especially in the large cities where Covid-19 infections are skyrocketing.

On Sunday, a number of Ministers and experts from health service RIVM gathered for an informal discussion about the coronavirus approach, according to Omroep Brabant. The Outbreak Management Team, which advises the government on its coronavirus policy, is meeting on Monday to advise the government on additional measures, according to NOS.

The Security Council, which consists of the mayors that chair the country's 25 security regions, is also gathering on Monday to discuss the coronavirus and how to curb its spread.

Last week the Amsterdam-Amstelland security region already said that it was working on stricter measures, like closing specific catering establishments, reducing the maximum size of events, and limiting the size of gatherings. But it was waiting on implementation in the hope that the national government would implement these measures that restrict people's freedom of movement and damage the economy.

The number of coronavirus infections is increasing alarmingly in the Netherlands, with public health institute RIVM reporting nearly 3 thousand new infections on Sunday alone. According to a study by RTL Nieuws, the Netherlands is currently one of the most infected countries in western Europe.