The coronavirus risk level was Severe in 9 regions, Serious in 9 others, and Concern in 7 more, according to a new risk assessment on September 1, 2021.

The coronavirus risk level was Severe in 5 regions, Serious in 10 others, and Concern in 10 more, according to a new risk assessment on September 1, 2021. - Credit: NL Times / NL Times - License: All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, 1 September 2021 - 16:34

Nine Dutch regions now at country's highest coronavirus risk level

Nine of the 25 security regions in the Netherlands were assessed at the worst of four risk levels in an update provided by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday. Five regions were at the Severe level last week. Five more were added to the list, while the risk level in Twente was reduced.

Nine regions were also placed at Serious, the second-highest level, down from ten. There were seven regions at Concern, also down from ten. There were no regions assessed at the best level, Caution. The new risk levels will not affect coronavirus restrictions, which are currently applied nationally.

Those regions at Severe were categorized as such because of the number of hospitalizations per million inhabitants. The number of weekly coronavirus infections per 100,000 residents also helps determine a region's risk level. The worst figure of the two is used by the Ministry of Health in the risk assessment.

Drenthe and Gooi en Vechtstreek both jumped two levels from Concern to Severe. Rotterdam-Rijnmond was assessed the worst of the nine at Severe because of the level of hospitalizations there. Gelderland-Zuid, Gooi en Vechtstreek and Haaglanden were the closest to being in a better risk group. The other regions ranked at the worst level were Amsterdam-Amstelland, Flevoland, Zaanstreek-Waterland and Zuid-Holland Zuid.

The nine regions at the highest level include Amsterdam-Amstelland, Gooi en Vechtstreek, and Zaanstreek-Waterland in Noord-Holland. In Zuid-Holland, the regions of Haaglanden, Rotterdam-Rijnmond and Zuid-Holland Zuid were also rated at Severe, as well as Drenthe, Flevoland and Gelderland-Zuid.

Nine regions were also categorized at Serious, including Friesland, Noord-Holland Noord, Kennemerland and Hollands Midden. Those four had been at Caution last week. Kennemerland and Twente were nearly placed at Severe due to the number of hospitalizations there, while Friesland was nearly one step lower. The other regions called Serious were Gelderland-Midden, Groningen, Utrecht and Zeeland.

The seven regions at Caution included IJsselland, Noord- en Oost-Gelderland, which were improved from Serious. The other regions at Caution were Brabant-Noord, Brabant-Zuidoost, Limburg-Noord, Midden- en West-Brabant and Zuid-Limburg.