Bruno Bruins, who stepped down as Minister for Medical Care last week, said thank you for all the messages of support he received since his resignation.
"Many thanks for all the sweet messages, flowers, drawings and gifts. Heart warming. I am resting now, although I don't like it much. I wish all the hard workers in the Netherlands a lot of strength. Only together will we work the corona crisis out of the country. Take care and look after each other!" Bruins said on Twitter.
Another 534 people in the Netherlands were diagnosed with coronavirus since Thursday, which took the country's total number of infected people to 2,994. Thirty of those patients died since Thursday, meaning that 106 people with coronavirus have died in the Netherlands, public health agency RIVM said on Friday.
Politicians in The Hague were surprised by Bruno Bruins' resignation as Minister for Medical Care. Many complimented him on his hard work and wished him well and good recovery.
Bruno Bruins, one of the most present voices in the Netherlands during the ongoing coronavirus crisis, asked to be released from his post as the Minister of Healthcare on Thursday. The previous evening, Bruins collapsed from exhaustion while standing at the podium in the lower house of parliament during a debate on the country's preparedness.
Some 18 more people who tested positive for coronavirus in the Netherlands died since Wednesday, public health agency RIVM said. In total, 76 people who were infected have died ranging in age from 63 to 95 years old.
Another 409 people were also diagnosed as being infected with the virus, which raises the Netherlands total number of positive test cases to 2,460. To date, 489 people have required hospitalization, including at least 177 who were being treated in intensive care on Wednesday.
Members of the Tweede Kamer debated the social distancing strategy presented by Prime Minister Mark Rutte to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and widely expressed their approval to press forward. Hearings on the strategy began in the morning and continued in the afternoon and into the night, until Health Minister Bruno Bruins collapsed in the middle of debate.
A total of 96 people in the Netherlands are in intensive care units with coronavirus Covid-19, the Dutch association for Intensive Care reported on Monday evening. Hospitals are increasingly concerned about a shortage of medical masks to protect healthcare workers and their patients.
Another 278 people in the Netherlands tested positive for the Covid-19 variant of coronavirus, bringing the country's total number of patients to 1,413. Four more patients who tested positive with the virus died since Sunday, figures provided by public health agency RIVM showed.
"In total, 24 people have now died from the disease. The average age of the deceased is 79 years (youngest 59- oldest 94). A total of 205 patients were or have been admitted to a hospital," the RIVM said in a statement.
Every primary and secondary school will be ordered shut as the Netherlands continues an ongoing battle to recover control over the spread of coronavirus, sources told broadcaster NOS. Additionally, all restaurants, cafes and sports clubs will also remain closed, broadcaster RTL Nieuws said
As the rate of coronavirus infections continues to grow in the Netherlands, the Dutch government imposed stricter advice to deal with the spread of the virus. The new rules call on anyone in the country to work from home as much as possible especially if they have any respiratory symptoms or a fever, for medical personnel, first responders, and essential workers to cancel travel to countries abroad, and a ban on all events where over a hundred people are to meet in one place.
Sixty more people in the Netherlands tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total numver of cases in that country to 188. Forty percent of the new patients, 24, reside in the Noord-Brabant province.
Friday saw another hike in the number of Covid-19 diagnoses in the Netherlands, as well as the country's first death caused by the coronavirus. According to public health institute RIVM, there are currently 128 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Netherlands, up from 82 on Thursday.
The European Ministers of Public Health are meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss a EU strategy for dealing with Covid-19. The coronavirus continues to spread in the Netherlands, with three people working for football club Ajax being among the new diagnoses, according to RTL Nieuws.
The infected Ajax staffers include assistant trainer Christian Poulsen, and two physical trainers and therapists, according to several publications. They were at a birthday party also attended by someone diagnosed with the virus earlier this week, NU.nl wrote.
The Groningen department of health service GGD is ready to receive the 900 members of student association Vindicat, who will be returning from their skiing holiday in northern Italy early on Saturday. The students will be returning by bus. At a special location set up by the GGD, they will be checked over and tested for coronavirus Covid-19, if necessary, AD reports.
The number of patients in the Netherlands who tested positive for coronavirus jumped from 38 confirmed cases on Wednesday to 82 on Thursday, Dutch health authority RIVM said on Thursday.
The government must make use of the military to help care for the sick if the coronavirus turns into an epidemic, according to advice from experts in the so-called Outbreak Management Team to Medical Care Minister Bruno Bruins, which newspaper AD has in its possession.
The government is holding a crisis meeting on how to deal with coronavirus Covid-19 on Tuesday morning. The so-called "ministerial crisis management committee' will gather to discuss the current state of affairs, how effective the current measures are, and whether further measures are needed, RTL Nieuws reports.
Attendees of the meeting includes Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Minister Bruno Bruins for Medical Care, Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security, and public health institute RIVM.
The woman from the Amsterdam region who was diagnosed with coronavirus Covid-19 on Friday is an employee of the Amsterdam UMC, the hospital confirmed on Friday. She did not work with patients. The woman does not have to be hospitalized. Her symptoms are minor enough that she can safely be quarantined at her home in Diemen, Aura Timen, spokesperson for public health institute RIVM, said to NOS.
A Dutch person who traveled to the Lombardy region of Italy is the first in the Netherlands to have tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus strain, Dutch health agency RIVM announced Thursday evening. The man, which BD reported as a 56-year-old from Loon op Zand, Noord-Brabant, was placed in quarantine, authorities confirmed.
The risk of the coronavirus Covid-19 reaching the Netherlands is real, Minister Bruno Bruins for Medical Care said. The Netherlands is one of the last Western European countries with no Covid-19 diagnoses yet. Bruins understands that people are worried about this and wants to respond with good public information and the right preparations, he said to NOS.
"We have tested about 50 people in the Netherlands so far. So far the results have all been negative, but sooner or later a patient can of course be found," Bruins said to the broadcaster.
An online petition against Asian people being discriminated against in the Netherlands due to the outbreak of the coronavirus has been signed over 25 thousand times, including over 20 thousand signatures from people in the Netherlands. The petition, titled 'We are not viruses!' was placed online on Saturday.
Staff shortages and the elimination of birthing rooms in hospitals are leading to dangerous situations for pregnant mothers and their babies, the Netherlands' association for obstetricians KNOV warned in De Telegraaf.
"Our obstetricians have to move further and further with their pregnant clients and ask for a place at other hospitals," KNOV director Charlotte de Schepper said to De Telegraaf. "For example, we have reports that an obstetrician had to go from Houten to Gorinchem or from Leeuwarden to Amsterdam."
Dutch schools should cancel their exchange programs with China in the coming months due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, Globi, an organization that helps with organizing exchange projects, advised on Wednesday. So far three people in the Netherlands have been tested for infection with coronavirus 2019-CoV, but all tests have come back negative, public health institute RIVM confirmed to NU.nl.
Dutch football association KNVB and the government are finalizing the measures they are taking to fight racism in football stadiums, and will likely present them next week, newspaper AD reports. Their measures include more cameras and a football app to report abuses, among other things.
