From July, consumers will have to pay for a corona rapid test if they have it taken to gain access to, for example, the catering industry or a cultural institution. This is stated in a bill on access tests, which the cabinet approved on Friday.

In the coming period, work will be done on the infrastructure to enable access testing throughout the Netherlands. So the government will bear the costs until July. After that, a contribution is requested from the citizen.

The ministry expects that contribution to amount to 7,50 euros per rapid test, but that has not been set in stone. The average costs for a rapid test are 30 euros, and from July the ministry will contribute 22,50 euros per rapid test, calculates a spokesperson for the department.

First relaxations

This month, pilots will look at how access testing works in practice. In the coming months, a total of 1,1 billion euros has been reserved for the pilot projects, setting up the test infrastructure and carrying out the tests.

The cabinet hopes to implement the first relaxation - including the opening of the terraces and the abolition of the curfew - as of April 28, but says that is not certain. Hospital admissions must first decrease before easing.

If further relaxation is allowed from May, it will again be possible to visit places such as theaters and sports matches with a negative test certificate. This concerns the second step in the opening plan that Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Corona Minister Hugo de Jonge presented on Tuesday. In the third step it would be the turn of restaurants.

Also read: Saliva PCR test at Zurich Airport

Corona Antigen self-test
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