Some 7 million people watched Dutch PM's Covid-19 speech

Some 7 million people watched Prime Minister Mark Rutte address the nation on television on Monday evening. Rutte discussed the situation around the Covid-19 outbreak. He said that a large proportion of the Dutch population would likely be infected with the virus, discussed the measures that were being taken and why, and call on Netherlands residents to get through this difficult time together.

Rutte's address was broadcast by NPO, RTL and SBS at 7:00 p.m. It was also live streamed on social media and broadcast on various radio stations.

The NPO attracted the most viewers by far - at 7:00 p.m. a massive 5.4 million people were tuned in to watch the speech, NU.nl reports. More than 1.2 million viewers watched it on RTL Nieuws, and 446 thousand on SBS. About 100 thousand people watched the address through a live stream.

The full text of Rutte's speech, translated to English, can be read here.