Dutch government’s Covid dashboard goes offline after four years

Almost four years after its launch, the Dutch government's online coronavirus dashboard was taken offline on Tuesday. Users visiting the website after 3 p.m. wanting current information about the status of the pandemic were redirected to the website of the RIVM, the Dutch public health institute.

The government used the platform to inform the public about a variety of data points regarding the coronavirus outbreak, including the daily development of the number of infections and hospitalizations. Fewer and fewer people visited the site after the pandemic came to an end, prompting the government to determine the website was no longer needed.

Hugo de Jonge, the health minister at that time, announced plans for the dashboard in May 2020. A trial version went online a month later.

Initially, the dashboard only showed the number of positive coronavirus tests per 100,000 people, the average number of hospitalizations, and the number of people in intensive care. Other information was added later, like the reproduction value, the number of infections among vulnerable people, the number of vaccinations administered, and a calculation of virus particles found in sewage water.

The risk level was also on the dashboard, which was meant to advice the public about a state of alertness connected to how quickly the virus was spreading. The levels were vigilant, worrying, serious, and very serious. This was replaced in 2022 by the "Corona thermometer."

The dashboard’s data will remain available for researchers. The RIVM will also continue to follow the spread of the virus, for example, by measuring the concentrations of virus particles in sewage water.