Netherlands entirely red on European Covid map

Noord-Holland, Noord-Brabant, Groningen and Drenthe turned red on the map of coronavirus cases in Europe. This means that the whole of the Netherlands is now at the second-highest warning level. The four provinces were still orange last week but moved up due to the rapid increase in positive tests.

The ECDC, the European counterpart of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), publishes its coronavirus map every Thursday. The service looks at the number and percentage of positive tests in the two previous calendar weeks. The European coronavirus map has four colors. From low to high, these are green, orange, red, and dark red. Countries use the map to decide to tighten rules for travelers from other countries.

Limburg will probably move up to dark red next week, the highest level. The last time a province was on that level was at the end of July. Limburg surpassed Utrecht as the country's biggest hotspot. 5,351 residents in the province tested positive in the past two weeks. That comes down to 479 positive tests for every 100,000 Limburg residents. That's 77 percent more than last week's map.

Gelderland and Overijssel could also turn dark red next week. Zeeland has become the fourth biggest source of infections in the country. In the past two weeks, 382 out of every 100,000 Zeeland residents tested positive, almost 82 percent more than last week's map. Especially in the predominantly Reformed municipality of Tholen, the number of positive tests is skyrocketing.

Infections are also rising in other countries. Wallonia went from red to dark red. In Germany, just like in the Netherlands, the last regions have turned red, and the whole of the country is now on the second-highest risk level. The Spanish Basque Country went from orange to red, and France went from partly green to completely orange.

The countries in Eastern and Central Europe have the most infections, just like in recent weeks. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are entirely dark red. The warning colors also went up in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Austria.