While pollution figures in the Netherlands appear to be declining, the situation in Great Britain is getting out of control. “Our English colleagues warned us: ‘Be prepared because you don’t know what’s coming your way,” says Diederik Gommers, president of the Dutch Association for Intensive Care, at WNL Op Saturday on NPO Radio 1.

Hospitals in London are overcrowded. Meanwhile, 1 in 30 Londoners will be infected with the Coronavirus. The main culprit is the new variant of the Coronavirus. “That makes it difficult,” says Gomers. “We are concerned because we know the virus is already with us. Only at the moment in small numbers.”

Meanwhile, infection numbers have declined in the Netherlands in recent days. The shutdown is having an effect, Gomers says. “When things went downhill in Britain, the British were not in lockdown. We have an advantage over the British that we are now in lockdown. Now, it is up to the cabinet this weekend to make a wise decision. I announced on Tuesday. A warning person counts for two people. What you see. Now in London, we cannot have it at the moment. “

“The effect of vaccination will take another month.”

Despite the fact that the vaccination has started in the Netherlands, it will take at least a month before it takes effect, Gummers says. “We will receive the second donation in three weeks. You won’t have complete resistance until a week after that second donation. So we hope we won’t have any staff disruptions in February if the British surrogate is housed here.”

Because of the grafting, Gomers says, there is light at the end of the tunnel. “The group that is most often in intensive care is between the ages of 60 and 75. When these people are vaccinated, the hospitals will calm down. And then we cannot be overburdened. But this is a large group, along with the chronically ill should be vaccinated 3 to 4 Millions of people. “

The slow delivery of vaccines means that it will take many months before that group is fully vaccinated. “Sufficient vaccines have to be provided. What I understood is that only in April. We are now facing a very difficult period in which we know that things are going better, but we have to keep working together for a long time, especially for the economy. The water is in our lips. The government will face choices.” Difficult in the coming months. “

“Young people are the publishers after all”

On Tuesday, it is also expected to see whether primary and secondary schools will reopen. “We discussed this at OMT. From a student’s point of view, it is important for education to resume as soon as possible. If you look at it from an infection prevention perspective only, you can’t do these schools right now. Open it up. Young people are publishers, you hear that. From England with the new virus. So it is not wise at this time to open schools. “

If schools really reopen, Gomers says, the cabinet will have to tighten other measures. “In the morning there are still a lot of people on the road, and not all of them are sharp trades. There are still definitely buttons that you can turn to reduce motion. But that’s really up to the cabinet.”

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Correction report