The North is the only place in the country with low levels of hospitalisation
Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe together form the only part of The Netherlands where the number of corona infections remains within limits, making the situation in the North “exceptional”, according to Peter van der Voort, head of the intensive care department of the UMCG. As reported by the Dagblad van het Noorden, who have also reported four new confirmed infections in Drenthe this morning.
The number of known hospital admissions is currently the main indicator of the spread of the epidemic. There appears to be only a handful of hospital admissions in the North at the moment. In Groningen, two patients are in intensive care: one in the Martini Hospital in Groningen and one in the Ommelander Hospital in Scheemda.
So far, one person has died of the disease in the North: an person in their eighties, in Leeuwarden.
Peter van der Voort does not know exactly why there are fewer corona recordings in the North, but he does have a suspicion. Explanations may be the fact that the spring break here was a week earlier, resulting in less imports of the disease from Northern Italy. Secondly, there was much less carnival here.
However, medical professionals expect that there will also be a peak in cases here in the North. Initially it was expected at the end of March, but the prediction has now been adjusted to the beginning of April. Hospitals in the North will be operating crisis services from 30 March.
However, the relatively favorable situation compared to elsewhere in The Netherlands is no reason to applaud (aside from to thank health workers). Van der Voort certainly does not think that the virus will pass us by. He argues that it is necessary to delay the spread and to keep it controllable, because that gives hospitals the opportunity to provide patients with the necessary care.
