Entire Netherlands colored red on EU coronavirus map

The fact that the number of coronavirus cases in the Netherlands is falling, is now also reflected on the European coronavirus map. All twelve provinces are now red, the second highest level.

Last week, Noord-Holland, Groningen, Utrecht, Zuid-Holland, Noord-Brabant, Gelderland, Overijssel, and Limburg were still at dark red, the highest level. Flevoland, Friesland, Zeeland and Drenthe remain red.

The coronavirus map is made every Thursday by the ECDC, the European equivalent of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). The organization looks at the number of positive tests in the past two calendar weeks and the percentage of positive tests. The map has four colors: green, orange, red and dark red. The peak of the current coronavirus wave, about three weeks ago, no longer counts for this week's map and therefore the colors can be slightly 'lowered'. 

In other countries, the number of coronavirus cases is increasing. For example, the Mediterranean coast in France went from red to dark red. These are the regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (with cities such as Marseille, Cannes and Nice) and Occitania (Toulouse, Montpellier, Nîmes). This also applies to the regions of Castile-La Mancha and Murcia in southern Spain. Normandy, the Nantes region in northeastern France (Metz, Strasbourg, Reims) went from orange to red. That is also the case for Tuscany in Italy.

Portugal remained red and Greece was predominantly red, just like last week. Also in countries like Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland and Estonia, the color went "up" because the number of positive tests increased.

Countries use the coronavirus map to base entry rules on. If the Netherlands declines further, countries like Germany and France may decide to relax the rules for Dutch travelers. Whether and when the Netherlands can drop towards orange and green also depends on the percentage of positive tests. That is still too high for a step down.