The Netherlands will most likely become an even redder spot on the map of corona cases in Europe on Thursday. The province of Groningen is currently dark red, the highest possible level, and the other provinces are red. But provinces such as Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Overijssel may also go to dark red.
The corona map is made weekly by ECDC, the European equivalent of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). The organization looks at the number of positive tests in the past two weeks and the percentage of positive tests. The number of new cases in the Netherlands is still rising, although last week it was slower than the week before.
Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Luxembourg are also all red. The rest of Europe is green, with some orange areas here and there. This means that the corona outbreak is currently reasonably under control. Dutch tourists can be a danger for those countries, because they can introduce the highly contagious Delta variant of the corona virus.
The new corona card may be a reason for those countries to tighten up the access rules for Dutch citizens. For example, the Netherlands has been regarded as a risk area for Germany since last week. Berlin could take the Netherlands a step higher this week, in the group of 'Hochinzidenzgebiete'. These are places where the coronavirus is common. This category also includes Great Britain, Portugal and Suriname, for example. If the Netherlands also receives that status, holidaymakers must already show proof of a negative result of a corona test or a vaccination certificate at the border with Germany before they even enter the country.
According to Minister Hugo de Jonge and RIVM, the number of positive tests has stabilized in the last few days and could start to decline in the coming week. If so, the Netherlands could go back to orange or green on the European corona map in three or four weeks. Then the rules for holidaymakers may also be relaxed.
Also read: Travelers get a free self-test at airports in the Netherlands