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- Last Sunday, for the first time since 9 October fewer than 6,000 people were confirmed positive for the coronavirus according to daily statistics released by the RIVM. The Dutch public health agency said that 5,703 people tested positive for the viral infection, the lowest figure in over a month. The tally was nearly 15% lower than Saturday’s total, and 35% below figures reported a week earlier.About 4,709 more people tested positive for the virus according to RIVM reports on Monday, which continued a week-long overall trend of declining infection figures.It marked another substantial 17% drop compared to Sunday’s total, and was 43% lower versus figures released a week ago. The consistent decreases has led to political speculation that no region in the Netherlands will be placed under a stricter lockdown this week.
Rotterdam (344), Amsterdam (220), and The Hague (150) were the three cities with the most newly infected residents in Monday’s statistical update. Rotterdam improved by nearly a third compared to a week ago, with Amsterdam posting a 40% drop. In The Hague, the total fell by 46%. The seven day averages in the three cities were 457 in Rotterdam, 337 in Amsterdam, and 230 in The Hague.
At the same time, the total number of people hospitalized for the coronavirus disease rose on Monday for the first time in six days. The total stood at 2,317, meaning hospitals were treating 22 more patients compared to Sunday afternoon. Still, it was almost 9% lower than the Covid-19 hospital total a week ago.
The “very slight increase” was “nothing to worry about,” said Ernst Kuipers, the head of the Dutch acute care providers network, during a press conference on Monday. “The decline was so fast that you can expect it to bounce.”
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- At the end of November – early December, twenty large test locations spread across the Netherlands will be put into use. There will be eight XL test streets and an additional twelve L test streets, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) announced on Friday. Four large test locations will be built in Amsterdam.The large test streets in Amsterdam will be opened at the RAI, in Sloterdijk and in the Zuidoost and Noord districts. Other large test locations will be in Vijfhuizen, at Schiphol, Rotterdam, at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, MartiniPlaza in Groningen, the Bread Factory in Rijswijk, Eindhoven and in the vicinity of Arnhem and Nijmegen. The test site in MartiniPlaza, Groningen was already opened on Monday afternoon.Large test locations must also be built in Twente, South Limburg, West Brabant, IJsselland, Zeeland, Drenthe and Friesland, but it is not yet known where these will be located. The regular PCR test and rapid tests are used in all major test lanes.
At the XL test lanes, in fact many test lanes in one location, more than a hundred thousand people can be tested for the corona virus every day. This doubles the current test capacity. Just as with a normal test street, anyone with complaints can go to an XL test street.
At the end of October, Minister Hugo de Jonge of Public Health announced that there was talk about XL test streets around large cities, but the locations were not yet fixed. The ministry wants every Dutch person to be able to travel to a test location within 45 minutes.
During the first weeks, the test streets are manned by a thousand defense officers. For this, they will get a one-day training. After that, the work will be taken over by employees of the GGD or hired staff. However, the GGD remains responsible for who can be tested at which location and for the source and contact investigation after a positive result.
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- Pharmaceutical company Pfizer reported positive results in the third test phase of its vaccine against the coronavirus. According to the American company, the first results in the third phase show that the vaccine is effective in more than 90 percent of the cases. The vaccine is being developed in collaboration with the German biotech company BioNTech.”It’s a great day for science and humanity,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in a press release. “These initial results are early evidence that our vaccine can prevent covid-19 infection.” He’s talking about a milestone.Nearly 44,000 people are participating in the phase 3 trial and about 39,000 of them have now received two doses of the vaccine. After 94 people had developed covid-19, it was examined whether those people received the candidate vaccine or a placebo. The pharmaceutical company now concludes from this analysis that the vaccine is 90 percent effective. The study will continue until 164 participants have developed covid-19.
The pharmaceutical company hopes to publish the interim research results within two weeks. After that, the company wants to submit an application to the US drug authority FDA to market the vaccine. The European medicines agency EMA is about access to the European market.
Professor of Vaccinology at Utrecht University Cécile van Els, who is an immunologist at RIVM and also speaks on behalf of that institute, is delighted. “The vaccine has passed the first litmus test for efficacy.” To immediately add: “But the testing is not over yet, people are still being followed.
Anke Huckriede, professor of vaccinology at the University of Groningen finds some restraint in order. “In the short term, this vaccine appears to be able to protect, but in the end the point is that the vaccine offers protection for at least six months, if not longer. Whether that is the case with this vaccine, we still have to wait and see. The data look very promising. ”
The vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech gives the body instructions for the production of a protein that is characteristic of the coronavirus, against which an immune response is built up, explains Van Els. She also does not dare to say how long the defense works. “But usually you have at least a certain degree of immunity for a few years.” Whether the test subjects can no longer transmit the virus to others has not been tested. But without symptoms, such as coughing, the risk of infecting others is smaller, the professor emphasizes.
Both Van Els and Huckriede state that the claimed effectiveness of the vaccine, with a percentage of 90, is very high. With a flu vaccine, for example, 40 to 50% is involved, says Van Els. “That vaccine is often used for the elderly, which makes it more difficult to achieve a high percentage.”
Production of the vaccine has already started in anticipation of the definitive research results. Van Els: “The Netherlands is eyeing several vaccines, and Pfizer is one of them.”
Pfizer, she says, is already stocking up for when they get approval. “I think it is very optimistic for the end of this year, I would say at the end of the first quarter of next year, provided there are no setbacks.” Huckriede makes a similar estimate of when the vaccine will be available. She points out that the company can already produce 50 million doses for this year. Huckriede thinks the vaccine will hit the US market first, and the European market soon after. “I expect sometime in the spring, perhaps early spring, that the first people in the Netherlands will receive the vaccine.”
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- NS is increasing their train fares: for the second class, these will be on average 1.5% more expensive from 1 January. The price for first class rises by an average of 2.6%, NS (Dutch Railways) reports.The price increase is a correction for expected inflation, the company states. The costs that the NS incurs for maintenance of trains, for example, become more expensive due to inflation. The fares for first class are rising a little more this time, because prices have not increased in the past two years, according to the rail carrier.The plan is to increase the rate for public transport bicycles from 3.85 euros to 3.95 euros per 24 hours. That proposal has been submitted to interest groups for travelers. International train journeys will also be slightly more expensive next year: an average of 1%.
Last week, the Dutch Railways indicated that slightly fewer trains will be running in the coming period due to the corona crisis. Since this week, phases have been phased out to 90% of the normal timetable. Since the stricter corona measures, the rail carrier has far fewer passengers and therefore fewer trains are needed, according to the Dutch Railways.
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- Retailers in the Netherlands want to start Black Friday discounts a week earlier and run them until the day itself on 27 November, in the hopes that this will prevent big crowds amid the coronavirus crisis, INretail said after surveying its members, ANP reports.Over the weekend, trade union FNV called on retailers to completely skip Black Friday this year, calling on employers to “not also put public health on sale”. But INretail is confident that the sector can handle Black Friday safely. “It is also primarily an online marketing phenomenon in our country. Consumers can therefore choose how they want to buy. Entrepreneurs actively respond to this, because many have a web shop as well as stores,” the sector organization said to ANP.According to INretail, many entrepreneurs are setting up discount campaigns in such a way to entice consumers to make their purchases on quieter days, and in non-peak times. Some 80% of retailers are also taking additional measures to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks, including even stricter door policies, mandatory face masks, and clearly visible hygiene measures. The INretail survey found that just less than half of non-food entrepreneurs in main shopping centers will have Black Friday specials this year.
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- In the night from Monday to Tuesday, the British House of Lords partially rejected Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit law. Specifically, it concerns the parts that violate international law. This mainly concerns agreements about Northern Ireland, which London and the European Union have laid down in the Withdrawal Agreement.According to Johnson, the so-called internal market law is necessary to protect the internal movement of goods in the United Kingdom. He sees it as a “safety net” and “insurance policy” to preserve the political and economic integrity of the country in the absence of a trade deal with the EU.Johnson has acknowledged that the law violates international law. Many of his party members fear that this would put the UK’s international reputation at risk. Critics say the bill threatens to undermine peace in Northern Ireland. Johnson can now choose to delete the passages in question or keep them if the House of Commons re-examines the bill next month. He said earlier on Monday that the clauses in question constitute a “vital” safety net.
Should the EU and UK negotiate a trade deal, the passages may no longer be necessary. The negotiations on this are in a final phase. There are some optimistic voices. Due to Brexit, the British are no longer bound by EU laws from 1 January 2021. In the Withdrawal Agreement, the EU retains control over trade with Northern Ireland, partly to prevent checks from being carried out at the border with EU Member State Ireland.
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