Over half of NL residents unhappy with Covid policy

The Dutch government is quickly losing support for the way in which it is handling the coronavirus pandemic. In November, two thirds of Netherlands residents were still positive about the Covid-19 policy. By New Year's that dropped to only 45 percent, the Volkskrant reported based on the latest RIVM survey on the pandemic.

Netherlands residents feel that other countries are responding better to the pandemic than the Dutch government. Only about 20 percent think the Netherlands is doing well compared to other countries, compared to around 40 percent in November.

The belief that the government is doing well in weighing the various interests when implementing measures, is also waning. Around New Year's 55 percent said the government is doing well on this front, a decrease of 10 percent. 

The number of people who think the government is explaining their decisions well decreased from 63 to 55 percent. And almost 50 percent said the coronavirus rules and restrictions make no sense - they find it illogical or difficult to understand why some rules apply in one situation and not in another.

These figures are from an ongoing survey of around 51 thousand Dutch people by health institutes RIVM and GGD. The survey is focused on finding out how Netherlands residents are dealing with the pandemic and its accompanying lockdowns and restrictions, and how they feel about the government's response.