Health service opening special test locations for monkeypox

Over the past weeks, the GGD health services in the large cities set up separate rooms where people can get tested for the monkeypox virus, BNR reports after speaking to several GGDs.

The GGDs in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Eindhoven all set up separate facilities with separate waiting areas. Some also offer vaccinations. The GGD in Utrecht does not have separate areas but did set up a consultation hour specifically for monkeypox.

At the end of May, the public health institute RIVM updated its monkeypox guideline, advising health services to limit contact with people who come in to get tested to prevent infection at GGD locations. The RIVM also asked medical staff and testers working with potential monkeypox patients to wear a face mask as a precaution.

So far, the RIVM has recorded 352 monkeypox infections in the Netherlands. That is still very low, but the number is increasing rapidly. According to the RIVM, testing is essential to containing the virus. “The way to prevent spread is to recognize it quickly,” Tjalling Leenstra of the RIVM said to BNR. “In this way, you can advise patients to go into isolation and advise contacts to get vaccinated.”

Many GGDs, therefore, already have plans to expand testing if necessary. The GGD in Utrecht, for example, is looking at redesigning one of its coronavirus test locations.