Some 5.5 million tuned in for Covid-19 press conference

A total of 5.5 million people tuned in to watch a press conference by Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge on Tuesday regarding coronavirus measures over the festive season, according to figures from Stichting Kijkonderzoek. 

With that, the press conference attracted fewer viewers than the two previous ones in November, which 6.5 million and 5.8 million people watched.

Most people watched the press conference via public broadcasters on Tuesday. 3.6 million tuned in to NPO1, 1.47 million watched on RTL4, and 367 thousand watched on SBS6. The press conference could also be followed online.

In the press conference, the Prime Minister waned that the number of coronavirus infections is rising again and that if this continues, the government may need to implement even stricter measures during the festive season.

"We are now at a crossroads. Either we together ensure that the figures go in the right direction, or the figures continue to rise. Then I will not rule out that we have to enforce even stricter measures before Christmas," Rutte said. This would be needed to prevent a third wave of infections during the holidays, he stated. "Of course nobody wants that. Let us make the best possible use of the Christmas period to comply with the measures."

Health Minister De Jonge said that the Netherlands' first Covid-19 vaccine shipment will consist of 507 thousand doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and is expected to arrive in the first week of January. That is significantly less than the over 900 thousand doses previously expected, and the arrival date is a bit later, meaning the injections will not be distributed by the January 4 deadline the minister previously wanted.