But a second wave is likely to be on its way
The news has come via a data-led journalist, Jelmer Visser, working for the independent journalistic platform Innovation Origins, which has been regularly investigating Coronavirus figures since March. Visser and his colleagues have based their research on figures obtained from the various GGD’s and their equivalents across Europe, reports the Algemeen Dagblad.
Whilst national figures for Coronavirus transmission are notoriously difficult to accurately obtain, regional figures are often more accurate and give a better picture. For example, within the Netherlands, the South and West of the country have really suffered from an incredibly high number of infected people, though the North and East of the country have come through with significantly less damage. In larger countries like France and Germany, a regional difference is also reflected.
Groningen, the other Province making up ‘the North’ slipped down the rankings and is listed as a ‘good region’: having had 38 new infections in the last two weeks.
The newest figures suggest that the Coronavirus is on the up again within Europe. “The start of the second wave was last week, quite evidently, and the pandemic is definitely back”, said Visser. Both Belgium and Spain are also beginning to experience second waves, whilst the Rotterdam region in the Netherlands is also being hit by a large wave. “Whereas our Southern neighbours are experiencing more uniform infections everywhere in the country, this isn’t reflected in the Netherlands”, says Visser.
“Drenthe and Friesland have some of the lowest new cases in all of Europe, with fewer than ten new positive diagnoses in the last week. These two Provinces sit in 18th and 22nd place on our ‘low risk’ list”, says Visser. Innovation Origin’s figures could suggest that Groningen is due to suffer quite heavily, with more infections being recorded now than at the start of the Coronavirus outbreak in March: however this may be due to the massively increased testing abilities of the GGD’s across the Netherlands.
Innovation Origins infection spread map by region can be viewed here.
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