Second survey highlights downturn in support for the Dutch king

DutchNews, April 27, 2022 

Photo: Robin Utrecht

A second survey has highlighted the downturn in support for king Willem-Alexander and the criticism of the way he acted during the coronavirus crisis. 

Last week, a poll involving 26,000 people for television show EenVandaag showed just 54% have faith in the monarch and now an Ipsos survey for news channel NOS paints a similar picture. 

Just 47% of those in the NOS survey have confidence in the way the king does his job and only similar percentage think he performed well during the past two years. Before coronavirus hit, 75% thought the king was performing well. 

The two years of coronavirus have been particularly damning for the royals, following a string of blunders over holidays, and culminating in a small party for oldest daughter Amalia when she turned 18 during the lockdown at the end of last year. 

The Ipsos survey gave the king a personal score of 6.7 out of 10, which is well down on the 7.7 he scored in 2020. Queen Máxima’s score of 7.6 is virtually unchanged on 2021 but down on her 2020 rating of 8. Seven in 10 of survey respondents said they thought she was doing a good job. 

Despite the criticism, 58% still support the monarchy as an institution, roughly in line with the EenVandaag figure.

The Dutch are still happy but slightly less so, and young adults are hardest hit

DutchNews, April 20, 2022 

While a large majority of adults in the Netherlands are happy with their lives, there has been a slight drop since 2019, and young adults have been hardest hit, according to research by national statisticsagency CBS. 

In total, just over 86% of people are happy, but that is down from just under 89% before coronavirus restricted socialising. But among young adults up to the age of 25, the drop is more noticeable, from 87.5% to almost 81% now, the CBS said. 

In 1997, young adults were the happiest group in the population. Nowadays, people aged 65 to 75 are most likely to be happy, with 90% giving their lives a score of at least seven out of 10. 

The Netherlands has long been considered one of the happiest nations on the planet. In the most recent UN World Happiness Report the Netherlands was in fifth place, behind Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland. 

However, several research projects have suggested that coronavirus has had a significant impact on the lives of young adults. 

The CBS itself said last year coronavirus has had a negative impact on the lives of almost half the Netherlands’ teenagers and young adults, but 43% say it has had both negative and positive effects.

Dutch to go into Christmas 'lockdown' to stop Omicron

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP, 18 December 2021 

Rutte said the Omicron surge had made forced them to impose fresh
restrictions (AFP/Robin UTRECHT)

The Netherlands will go into "lockdown" over the Christmas period to try to stop a surge of the Omicron coronavirus variant, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Saturday. 

All non-essential shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas, museums and theatres must shut from Sunday until January 14, while schools must close until at least January 9, Rutte said. 

The number of guests that people are allowed in their house is also being cut from four to two, except for Christmas Day on December 25. 

"I stand here tonight in a sombre mood," Rutte told a televised press conference. 

"To sum it up in one sentence, the Netherlands will go back into lockdown from tomorrow. 

"It is inevitable with the fifth wave and with Omicron spreading even faster than we had feared. We must now intervene as a precaution." 

The head of the Dutch outbreak management team, Jaap van Dissel, said the Omicron strain would soon overtake the Delta variant. 

"Between Christmas and the turn of the year the Omicron variant will become dominant," van Dissel told the news conference. 

"We know that the variant can outflank built-up defences from previous infections or previous vaccinations, especially if that was some time ago." 

Shoppers were out in force Saturday in anticipation of the announcement
(AFP/Marco de Swart)

'Cause for concern'

 Rutte's announcement came after an emergency cabinet meeting, and just four days after the government extended its previous measures and announced that schools would start their holidays earlier. 

Long queues developed outside shops earlier Saturday as people rushed to do last-minute Christmas shopping as reports of the new measures emerged. 

"It's too busy, but I'm coming before the Christmas holidays to pick up gifts, it seems like a new lockdown is coming," Ayman Massori, 19, told AFP in The Hague. 

The Dutch Covid restrictions have led to a 21-percent decline in infections in the week from December 7-14, according to official health authority data. 

The Netherlands also recorded a "slight decline" in hospital admissions, but authorities insisted that Omicron was still "a cause for concern". 

Nearly 86 percent of all adults in the Netherlands have been vaccinated. 

But the Dutch booster campaign has been slow to get off the ground, and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said all over 18s would now get an invitation by January 7. 

The Netherlands relaxed most social distancing measures in September, but by November infections were back up to record levels of more than 20,000 a day. 

The restrictions have been unpopular, with riots breaking out in Rotterdam, The Hague and other cities in late November.

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb is the ‘best mayor in the world’

 DutchNews, September 14, 2021 

Photo: Wouter Engler via Wikimedia Commons 

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb has been awarded the 2021 World Mayor Award by the London-based thinktank City Mayors Foundation for ‘his commitment to treat all citizens as ‘Rotterdammers’, irrespective of their origins and backgrounds.’ 

Aboutaleb shared the honour with Philippe Rio, who is mayor of Grigny, one of the most deprived cities in France. 

The jury praised Aboutaleb for his ‘courage, patience and humility’ and ‘exceptional leadership’, particularly during the pandemic when he showed great awareness of the vulnerability of some groups in society, the jury said. 

Aboutaleb, who started his third term in office in January this year, is the first Dutch mayor to have been given the prize which is awarded every two years to representatives of outstanding local government. 

In a reaction, Aboutaleb said he was extremely honoured to have been nominated for the award.  ‘It’s very special. I knew something was up because the organisation had been asking questions about me. But considering the huge number of mayors in the world the last thing you expect is that it’s you they’ll choose,’ he told RTL Nieuws. 

The Labour party member was the first Muslim mayor to be appointed in a big city in Western Europe when he took office in 2009.  Mayors in the Netherlands are formally crown appointees.

Curfew will remain in place until Friday’s appeal, judges rule in emergency hearing

DutchNews, 16 February 2021 

 Opponents of the curfew (right) during the hearing.Photo: Phil Nijhuis ANP

The curfew will remain in force until Friday when the appeal court will consider its merits at a formal hearing, judges in The Hague ruled on Tuesday evening. 

The verdict, given shortly before 9pm, came after hours of legal wrangling, during which opponents of the curfew attempted to have the judges dismissed for bias. 

On Tuesday morning, The Hague district court ruled the curfew was illegal because of its impact on freedom of movement. The government, however, appealed immediately, and asked an emergency court to keep the curfew in place until appeal court judges have had the chance to look at the case in more detail. That hearing will take place on Friday. 

The case was brought by Viruswaarheid, a campaign group which opposes the coronavirus regulations and has fought several earlier cases trying to have restrictions removed. 

In its ruling, the  court said that the interests of the state are more important than those of the protest group. The interests of Viruswaarheid are limited to a few days. The interest of the state is in preventing a yoyo effect, the court said in its ruling. 

Fragile 

Government advisor Jaap van Dissel, who chairs the Outbreak Management Team, said while the court was deciding on its verdict that it is crucial to keep the curfew. 

The situation in the Netherlands is currently ‘fragile’ he said. The introduction of the curfew and the reduction in the number of visitors to private homes to one in 24 hours is having an impact on the infection rate, he said. 

‘The effect may seem small but we are talking about exponential growth,’ he said. ‘It is stopping us from having to deal with hundreds more cases.’ 

Legal situation 

Prime minister Mark Rutte earlier appealed to the Dutch to stick to the 9pm curfew, while the legal situation is clarified. ‘We remain extremely concerned about the ‘English’ variant and the curfew was introduced to make sure that the infection rate does not go up again,’ Rutte said. ‘We really need the curfew’. 

The national police said earlier that they would continue to monitor the situation and would intervene even if the court ruled the curfew should be suspended. 

‘Hanging around on the street in a group or having a party is not allowed, whatever the ruling,’ a spokesman said. ‘We will keep a close eye on groups or people who are too close together.’

Coronavirus kills two involved in online church service recording

DutchNews, January 4, 2021 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Two members of the Protestant church in Biddinghuizen have died after becoming infected with coronavirus while making recordings for an online church service, local broadcaster Omroep Flevoland said. 

In total, 10 people involved in the project became ill with coronavirus after the recording session on December 15. The church had decided to offer online services only during the lockdown. 

Church council Jan Klopman, who was among those to become ill, told the broadcaster that the coronavirus regulations had been adhered to during the recording process. 

In late December it emerged that nine of the 10 biggest coronavirus hotbeds in the Netherlands are classified as Christian council areas.

Chinese citizen journalist jailed for Wuhan virus reporting

Yahoo – AFP, 28 December 2020 

Authoroties said former Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist
Zhang Zhan had spread "False remarks" online.

A Chinese citizen journalist was jailed for four years Monday for her reporting from Wuhan as the Covid-19 outbreak began, her lawyer said, almost a year after details of an "unknown viral pneumonia" surfaced in the central China city. 

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer who arrived at court in a wheelchair, was sentenced at a brief hearing in a Shanghai court for allegedly "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" during her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak. 

Her live reports and essays were shared on social media platforms in February, grabbing the attention of authorities, who have punished eight virus whistleblowers so far as they curb criticism of the government's response to the outbreak. 

Beijing has congratulated itself for "extraordinary" success in controlling the virus inside its borders, with an economy on the rebound while much of the rest of the world stutters through painful lockdowns and surging caseloads a year on from the start of the pandemic in Wuhan. 

Controlling the information flow during an unprecedented global health crisis has been pivotal in allowing China's communist authorities to reframe the narrative in their favour, with President Xi Jinping being garlanded for his leadership by the country's ruling party. 

But that has come at a serious cost to anyone who has picked holes in the official storyline. 

The court said Zhang Zhan had spread "false remarks" online, according to one of her lawyers Zhang Keke, but the prosecution did not fully divulge its evidence in court. 

"We had no way of understanding what exactly Zhang Zhan was accused of doing," he added, describing it as "a speedy, rushed hearing." 

In return the defendant "didn't respond [to questions]... She refused to answer when the judge asked her to confirm her identity." 

The defendant's mother sobbed loudly as the verdict was read out, Ren Quanniu, another member of Zhang's defence team, told reporters who were barred from entering the court. 

Concerns are mounting over the health of 37-year-old Zhang, who began a hunger strike in June and has been force-fed via a nasal tube. 

Her legal team said her health was in decline and she suffered from headaches, dizziness and stomach pain, and that she had appeared in court in a wheelchair. 

"She said when I visited her (last week): 'If they give me a heavy sentence then I will refuse food until the very end.'... She thinks she will die in prison," Ren said before the trial. 

"It's an extreme method of protesting against this society and this environment." 

China's communist authorities have a history of putting dissidents on trial in opaque courts between Christmas and New Year in an effort to minimise Western scrutiny. 

Example made

The sentencing comes just weeks before an international team of World Health Organization experts is expected to arrive in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19. 

Zhang was critical of the early response in Wuhan, writing in a February essay that the government "didn't give people enough information, then simply locked down the city". 

"This is a great violation of human rights," she wrote. 

Rights groups and embassies have also drawn attention to her case, although diplomats from several countries were denied requests to monitor the hearing. 

"Zhang Zhan's case raises serious concerns about media freedom in China," the British embassy in Beijing said, urging "China to release all those detained for their reporting." 

Authorities "want to use her case as an example to scare off other dissidents from raising questions about the pandemic situation in Wuhan earlier this year", added Leo Lan, research and advocacy consultant at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders NGO. 

A United Nations official following the trial also expressed "deep concern" about the verdict. 

"We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release," the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a tweet. 

Zhang is the first of a group of four citizen journalists detained by authorities after reporting from Wuhan to face trial. 

Previous attempts by AFP to contact the other three -- Chen Qiushi, Fang Bin and Li Zehua -- were unsuccessful. 

Related Article:

"Corona 1", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - 

(>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)

Hard lockdown unavoidable, says Dutch PM, ruling out foreign travel until March

DutchNews, December 14, 2020 - By Robin Pascoe 

Mark Rutte in his office during the speech. Photo: Sem van der Wal ANP

Prime minister Mark Rutte called on everyone in the Netherlands to work together to combat coronavirus in an address to the nation on Monday night, and urged people not to make plans to travel abroad until mid March at least. 

Speaking from his private office in The Hague against a soundtrack of chants from anti coronavirus rules campaigners, Rutte said that he hoped this would be the last time he would have to speak directly to the population. 

The Netherlands, Rutte said, is going into lockdown, involving all places where people come together. The aim, he said, is to reduce human contact to a minimum and so try to prevent the virus from spreading. 

‘We realise just how far-reaching this decision is, particularly given that we are in the Christmas period,’ Rutte said. ‘This has been a year of sadness and mourning for many… and one in which stress and loneliness have moved through all the generations.’ 

Rutte urged everyone to keep to the rules, and said that the majority of the population are doing their best. ‘It is not an innocent flu … as the demonstrators outside seem to think,’ the prime minister said, referring to the noisy group chanting outside his office. 

The new measures will remain in effect until January 19 and, Rutte said, he and health minister Hugo de Jonge will hold a press conference on January 12 to outline what the next stages will be. 

Schools 

The most far-reaching measure, Rutte said, is to close all schools, colleges and universities until January 18, with the exception of people taking exams or involved in practicals. 

All non-essential shops will shut, but markets, chemists and dry cleaners and launderettes will remain open. ‘This is a hard message for some shops, but this is what we have to do,’ Rutte said. The scope of government support measures is being widened and the greater the loss, the more support shops can apply for, the prime minister said. 

All public buildings will close, but libraries will remain open to exchange books. Hotels can stay open but can no longer provide their guests with food or drinks because ‘too many people are using hotels to eat out’, Rutte said. 

Funeral parlours will remain open, and vulnerable groups will still be able to attend community centres, he said. All jobs involving physical contact but which are not of a medical nature will also be closed for the five week period. Cannabis cafes and restaurants can remain open for takeaway services, as they are at present. 

Groups outside must be no greater than two, which means you can walk with a friend. as long as you keep 1.5 metres distance, Rutte said. Outdoor sport for adults is also limited to two, but walking and cycling are still to be recommended, the PM told viewers. 

Travel too remains a controversial area. ‘Stay at home and don’t travel unless necessary,’ he said. ‘Of course, if you have rented a house for Christmas you can visit it, but while you are there, stick to the rules as well.’ 

Foreign travel 

Travel abroad for all but essential reasons should be avoided up to mid March,Rutte said. ‘The risks and uncertainties are too great,’ the prime minister said. ‘We will also ask our neighbouring countries to make sure their people do the same,’ he said. 

From Tuesday, everyone arriving in the Netherlands from outside the EU will have to provide a document at Schiphol airport showing they have tested negative for the virus. 

Working at home must once again become the norm and public transport is again being reserved for essential journeys. ‘We have to reduce work related infections, which are still far too high,’ he said, and appealed directly to employers, urging them to make it possible for people to work at home. 

The prime minister ended on a positive note, telling his audience that things ‘will get better’. ‘There will come a moment when coronavirus is behind us,’ he said. ‘2021 will be a year of hope, when there is light at the end of the tunnel.’ 

‘In the coming weeks, it is all down to reducing contacts and we have to help each other to do this,’ he said. ‘We will get through this together, and for each other.’

Dutch country singer Danny Vera dethrones Queen in Top 2000 records

DutchNews, December 8, 2020 

A still from the video of a live recording for Stenders Platenbonanza on Radio 2

Dutch country singer Danny Vera has knocked Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody off the top of the traditional Top 2000 best-loved songs in an annual competition organised by Radio 2. 

Vera’s Roller Coaster was released last year and took the number four spot in the 2019 poll. The song has now beaten Queen, who has held the top spot for the past five years. In fact, Bohemian Rhapsody has only been ousted four times since the ranking was first organised in 1999. 

In 2005, Boudewijn de Groot topped the list with Avond, the Eagles’ Hotel California was top in 2010 and 2014, and in 2015, Imagine by John Lennon took the top spot. 

The top 10, with last year’s placement in brackets 

1. Roller Coaster – Danny Vera (4) 
2. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen (1) 
3. Hotel California – Eagles (2) 
4. Piano Man – Billy Joel (3) 
5. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin (5) 
6. Black – Pearl Jam (7) 
7. Avond – Boudewijn de Groot (6) 
8. Fix You – Coldplay (8) 
9. Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd (10) 
10. Heroes – David Bowie (27)

Vera said in a reaction that he was delighted. ‘Perhaps it is indeed time for a new number one,’ he told NOS. ‘It also fits in well in a year in which everything was different.’ 

The Top 2000 is broadcast continuously on Radio 2 from December 25 to December 31.

Current coronavirus rules will last well into December, Dutch prime minister says

DutchNews, October 27, 2020 - By Robin Pascoe 

Mark Rutte and Hugo de Jonge outline the latest situation. Photo: Bart Maat ANP

The partial lockdown imposed in the Netherlands two weeks ago will last deep into December, prime minister Mark Rutte and health minister Hugo de Jonge told reporters on Tuesday evening. 

‘You can assume that you will celebrate Sinterklaas in a small group, with no more than three people from outside your household,’ Rutte said. ‘It is still too early to say about Christmas.’ 

Ministers are also working on new recommendations for holiday travel, both in the Netherlands and abroad, and that could be published as early as later this week, Rutte said. 

‘We are now at the crossroads,’ Rutte said. ‘It is too early to say if the measures of October 13 are having an impact and too early to take more measures. If we look at the figures, the week on week growth is slowing, but the number of new infections is still too big and must go down.’ 

In total, 67,543 positive coronavirus tests were registered with public health institute RIVM in the week up to Tuesday 10am, a rise of 22% on the previous week but well down on the figure two weeks ago. 

However, the coming days will be crucial, Rutte said. ‘You can assume we will hold another press conference next Tuesday and that all the options are being looked at.’ Should the number of positive tests not go down in the coming days, Rutte said he would not hesitate to act earlier. 

Loneliness 

However, people should be aware that far reaching measures will have a major impact on the economy, increase loneliness, and impact more heavily on students and on teachers, the prime minister said. 

The R factor, which indicates how the virus is spreading is still above 1, and must be brought down below that in the coming days, De Jonge said. ‘The speed at which it declines is also important when we are deciding about other measures,’ he said. 

Asked why more measures are not being introduced now to reduce the pressure on hospitals, De Jonge said the people being hospitalised now were infected last week. The hospital admission peak will be later than the peak in new infections, he said. 

Some 2,358 people are currently being treated in hospital for coronavirus, of whom 529 are in intensive care. More coronavirus patients continue to be admitted than are discharged, the patient coordination centre LCPS said earlier on Tuesday.

Rutte admits ‘error of judgment’ in not preventing royals’ holiday in Greece

 DutchNews, October 19, 2020 

Photo: Arno Mikkor via Flickr

Prime minister Mark Rutte has said he made an ‘error of judgment’ in not preventing the royal family’s much-criticised autumn trip to Greece. 

King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and their three daughters flew back from their Peloponnesian holiday home on Saturday, less than a day after leaving on a government jet. 

The holiday was widely condemned in parliament and on socialmedia as it came a few days after Rutte announced a ‘partial lockdown’ to contain a second wave of Covid-19 infections and urged people to avoid non-essential travel. 

In a letter to MPs, Rutte said he took full ministerial responsibility for the king’s decision, in keeping with protocol, and regretted not intervening sooner. He wrote: ‘I realised too late, especially after the press conference of Tuesday, October 12, that the planned holiday, which complied with the regulations, could no longer be squared with the rising infections and more stringent measures.’ 

The prime minister added that he had not informed health minister Hugo de Jonge of the royal couple’s holiday. De Jonge was caught off guard by questions about the trip at last Friday’s weekly press conference, when he stood in for Rutte. 

In a statement released at the weekend, the king and queen said they had cut short their holiday in response to public criticism. ‘We don’t want there to be any doubt: it is crucial to follow the guidelines in order to get Covid-19 under control and discussion about our holiday is not contributing to that,’ they wrote.

Soldier of Orange stranded again; almost half of cast have coronavirus

DutchNews, September 30, 2020 

Photo: Pvt pauline via Wikimedia Commons 

Some 15 members of the cast of musical Soldier of Orange have tested positive for coronavirus and performances have been postponed until October 4, entertainment programme Shownieuws reported. 

The show, about the exploits of Dutch resistance fighter Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema during World War II, had restarted at the beginning of the month after a six-month hiatus but with an audience of around 300 instead of the usual number of 1,100.

Producer Fred Boot said at the time that it would be impossible in the long run to keep the show going with a reduced audience. ‘We are losing many thousands of euros with every performance,’ he told the AD. 

Soldier of Orange is the Netherlands’ most successful production, with its own designated theatre at a former airfield. It premiered in 2010 and has been performed to sell-out audiences some 3,000 times.

Best day of his life? More wedding photos show minister breaking Covid rules

DutchNews, September 2, 2020 

Photo: Rijksoverheid.nl

More photos of the wedding of justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus have turned up, which show the minister and his guests flouting coronavirus rules and which, commentators say, could potentially threaten his position. 

The photos, shot by paparazzo photographer Ferry de Kok, and shown on Tuesday night by celebrity programme SBS Shownieuws, show Grapperhaus with his arm around his mother-in-law and an instance where he appears to be shaking hands with a guest. 

Last week Grapperhaus apologised for photos taken on the steps of Bloemenhaal town hall in which he and his guests were seen not to keep to the 1.5 metre social distancing rule. 

Prime minister Mark Rutte said at the time that mistakes had been made but that Grapperhaus’ position was not up for discussion, and at Tuesday night’s press conference he emphasised the minister’s hard work. 

A justice ministry spokesman has said Grapperhaus ‘has nothing to add’ to the apology he has already issued. However, the new photos will come up when MPs question Grapperhaus about the events at the wedding on Wednesday. 

Street warden union NBB has already said its members are handing out fewer fines for breaking the 1.5 metres rule since the wedding photographs circulated. 

‘People are less understanding about the fines,’ NBB chairman Richard Gerrits said. ‘And street wardens are noticing it. It is tricky to explain to people why they can get a fine but the minister responsible [for law and order] does not keep the rules himself.’ 

Credit 

The new photos will damage the minister further, NOS political correspondent  Wilco Boom said. 

‘Until now the coalition parties and the left-wing opposition parties were not out for his head. He has quite a lot of credit among MPs. (..) But this will make it difficult to keep him in the job,’ Boom said. 

Photographer Ferry de Kok told Radio 538 on Wednesday that more photographs of the wedding are in the pipeline. 

‘I have hundreds. Some show stuff that hasn’t come out yet but most of it is of the same order,’ he said. ‘I’m not offering them up for publication at the same time. If I did I would only get one lot of money.’

No more parties in the garden, and working at home remains key: Dutch PM

DutchNews, August 18, 2020 - By Robin Pascoe and Senay Boztas 

Mark Rutte and Hugo de Jonge during the press conference. Photo: Bart Maat ANP

Drinks parties and gatherings at home with more than six people, excluding children, are once again on the ‘not done’ list in the Netherlands, as the cabinet tries to reduce the rise in the number of coronavirus cases. 

At the same time, the period of quarantine for people who have been in contact with coronavirus patients or who have travelled to risky countries, is to be reduced from 14 to 10 days. 

‘Parties, drinks with the neighbours, family events… hugs, this is where things are not going so well,’ Rutte said. ‘If you have people to your home, the maximum is six guests, and ask if everyone is symptom free. You need a big living room to keep 1.5 metres distance,’ the prime minister said. ‘You can’t always do what you want.’ 

For bigger events, family groups should go to bars and cafes, where safety is properly organised, he said. But here too, officials will take a tough line on monitoring. 

Health minister Hugo de Jonge said that having 50 or 60 people at a party makes the work of contact tracers much more difficult because it takes so long to track down everyone. ‘We have to limit our contacts,’ he said. ‘And if this does not help, then we are losing sight of the virus… and that will be terrible for the economy.’ 

Home working 

In addition, Rutte said, that despite rumours to the contrary, working at home remains the primary rule. ‘There is no end date to this,’ he said. ‘People must work at home as much as possible.’ 

‘Of all rules we made at the beginning, the most effective advice was to work from home wherever possible,’ he said. ‘The figures don’t suggest we can relax this so the advice is to work from home wherever possible, and that means after September 1 as well.’ 

Schools 

Despite concerns about safety at schools, Rutte said that government advisors are convinced the schools can go back. ‘But children should stay home if they have symptoms,’ he said. ‘And they should also remain home if a family member tests positive.’ 

Officials are monitoring what is happening at schools and keeping a close eye on how many teachers develop the virus, De Jonge said. ‘If there is a school cluster, then the RIVM will act.’ 

The RIVM estimates that currently some 50,000 people are infectious, De Jonge said. ‘The number of infections must go down and so we are taking countrywide and regional measures, adding that ‘the coming weeks are crucial’. Amsterdam is due to make new local regulations public later in the evening.

Experimental treatment ‘drastically’ improves prospects for worst Covid patients

DutchNews, July 21, 2020

Illustration: Depositphotos.com 

An anti-inflammatory drug used in a Dutch hospital to treat the most seriously ill Covid-19 patients has been found to reduce the death rate by 65%. 

The Zuyderland Medisch Centrum in Geleen and Heerlen used corticosteroids, sometimes in combination with other medicines to suppress the immune system, to treat patients who developed cytokine storm syndrome (CSS). 

Around a quarter of Covid-19 patients who are admitted to hospital develop CSS, which occurs when the virus activates large numbers of white blood cells. 

Patients who were treated with an intensive course of glucocorticoids were 65% less likely to die and 71% less likely to need mechanical ventilation, according to the findings published on Tuesday in The Annals of Rheumatic Disease. 

At the beginning of the outbreak in March, 48% of Covid-19 patients being treated for CSS in the Limburg hospital died, but after doctors began using the steroid treatment the death rate fell to 16%. 

Patients were given the treatment for between five and seven days, in combination with the immunosuppressant drug tocilizumab if no improvement was seen by the second day.

Related Articles:

"Some Virus Truths for you to Consider", Streamed, US, Apr 14, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>43.09 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis and the Immune System) (Text version)

"...... The virus is not killing you.

The virus will often take someone, perhaps, who is weaker, to a level that is dangerous. With that danger, the doctors will put them into a hospital and give the best care that they know how to give. Some of the patients go into that which you call the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Surrounded by ICU specialists and doctors and nurses who care about them and are doing their best to save their lives, these health care professionals watch their efforts fail. Instead of seeing that which is a normal response within an ICU protocol, or that which is normal for a virus of this kind, they observe something completely different.

They watch a dramatic and quick downturn, and, sometimes, an almost immediate death. They are mystified, since there shouldn’t be this scenario happening, and they’re scratching their heads and saying, “that should not have happened.”

Dear ones, they are correct. Indeed, it should not be that way, and so, there’s another component to this – there is something else happening. This is factual, dear ones, and you can ask the physicians on the front lines and the nurses who have watched and seen those who are put on the ventilators who seem to be recovering, and then they lose them.

There is something else going on, dear ones, and now I will tell you what it is – and it’s not sinister or esoteric. It’s just chemistry. What I tell you now, hopefully, will lead to an understanding, so that, in the future, this virus does not have to be the “killer flu.” It will only be “the flu.” I’m telling you now the potential of what will be discovered and, if you roll your eyes at this, talk to me in a few years and see if you are going to roll your eyes then.

Number One:

Dear ones, your immune system has never seen this. Most of you have a robust immune system, but for those who don’t, your system will overreact to the virus. You might say that the immune system is what is killing the Human Beings, not the virus. The virus will take the dysfunction of your body to a certain level, and then the immune system, which has never seen this before, will completely overreact and cause quick death.

Now, I just gave you a key: If your medical science could encapsulate that immune system so it will not overreact, this flu will never kill another Human. You absolutely know the flu season is coming back. However, it will simply be the flu and it won’t be a killer flu anymore, because you will have figured it out. I just gave you something to work on and to know, and, if you think I am wrong, simply ask those doctors in the ICU if they have seen this phenomenon. They will say, “Yes, and we know there’s something else. We wish we knew what it was.”

Concentrate not on the virus vaccine, but on the immune system. Figure out why this reaction is taking place and work the puzzle of the immune system, so that there is no devastating horror for so many and hurt for so many hearts. Inappropriate death, it is.

You have gone into a habit of looking for an outside cure to always come forward and give you protection. Realize, dear ones, that this is an “add on” to an already wonderful immune system that begs for help. What if you, someday, have no need for any vaccine, and instead, you become super-strong in your resistance? What if everything can be solved and cured by enhancing YOUR system instead of something from the outside? What if this strength comes from organic substances and enhanced support for your own system instead of going to a pill? This would be a new paradigm for mainstream health. ...."

"Corona 2", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (>3,12 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)

"Corona 1", Reykjavik, Iceland, Mar, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - 

(>13.46 Min - Reference to the Global Coronavirus crisis)

No new Covid-19 deaths reported for first time in three months

DutchNews, June 22, 2020

RIVM figures showing dates of hospital admissions and deaths since May 4

For the first time since March 12, no new deaths from Covid-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours by the public health institute RIVM. 

Two more people were admitted to hospital, while 69 new infections were recorded. Four other positive results were removed, taking the total number of known infections to 49,658. 

Infection numbers tend to be lower on Monday than other days because of delays in collating data from the weekend. Over the last seven days 25 deaths have been reported. 

Since the start of June around 60,000 tests for coronavirus a week have been carried out, with 1.6% returning a positive result. 

In total 6,090 people in the Netherlands are known to have died from Covid-19, but the real figure is estimated to be more than 10,000 because only patients who tested positive for coronavirus are included. Universal testing has been available since the start of June.

MPs vote to tighten up staffing agency rules, improve migrant worker housing

DutchNews, June 3, 2020

Dutch fruit and veg farmers rely on cheap labour from abroad.
Photo: Depositphotos.com

Dutch MPs on Tuesday voted in favour of a motion drawn up by the Christian Democrats and D66 which asks ministers to look into requiring all staffing agencies to meet tougher quality standards. 

There are currently some 14,000 staffing agencies in the Netherlands but there are no rules governing who can start up an agency and most do not subscribe to existing quality trademarks. 

MPs also voted in favour of a motion to improve the housing lived in by staffing agency workers, which is often provided by the agencies themselves. However, there was not enough support for a ChristenUnie and Socialist party plan to stop agencies making accommodation part of contracts, including automatic deductions. 

Attention has been firmly focused on the staffing agency sector since the outbreak of coronavirus. Tens of thousands of mainly eastern Europeans work in the Netherlands via agencies and the cramped conditions many of them live in are thought to have contributed to several outbreaks in meat packing plants. 

Free movement 

MPs also agreed to ask the Council of State to look into a plan drawn up by ChristenUnie and the SP last year to regulate migration within the EU, particularly when it comes to hiring in cheap workers from central and eastern Europe. 

The two parties are calling for action at a European level to tackle the excesses of labour migration and to improve working and living conditions for the migrants themselves. 

While placing limits on free movement is not on the cards, there is no harm in asking the government’s most senior advisory body to look into the idea, MPs said.

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