Dutch government stops weekly regional coronavirus risk assessment

The Dutch government has stopped its domestic assessment of coronavirus risk levels in the country's 25 security regions after one year of weekly updates, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday. Starting on September 25, the date many coronavirus restrictions will change, the government will release a new national risk assessment.

The ministry did not say how that risk level will be calculated, but said it would reveal its method in ten days. Currently, the ministry defines four levels as Severe, Serious, Concern and Caution, from worst to best. It is not clear if those will remain.

The regional assessments were meant to allow the Cabinet to adapt coronavirus restrictions as a more local level, but the risk levels hardly translated into local coronavirus policies. It was based on per capita coronavirus infections, and per capita hospitalizations. The worst of the two determined the regional risk level.

Six regions were placed at Severe last week. They are Amsterdam-Amstelland, Flevoland, Haaglanden, Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Twente and Zuid Holland Zuid.

Brabant-Noord, Friesland, Gelderland-Midden, Gelderland-Zuid, Gooi en Vechtstreek, Hollands Midden, IJsselland, Kennemerland, Midden en West Brabant, Noord-Holland Noord, Utrecht, Zaanstreek-Waterland, Zeeland and Zuid Limburg

The remaining six regions of Brabant-Zuidoost, Drenthe, Groningen, Limburg Noord, Noord en Oost Gelderland were at Concern.