As week three of what has been described as the ‘Dutch intelligent lock down’ begins the cracks are beginning to show. A lot has happened since day one. Whilst at the same time, not a lot has happened at all. Here’s an insight into Dutch family life in times of the coronavirus crisis.
Health Up and Down
On a personal level, I haven’t felt great for three weeks now. The rest of the family is also up and down with headaches, sore throats and nausea. As I type two sons are back in bed, feeling grotty. No fevers though. Which I think is good news.
However, a persistent bug going round our family is doing nothing to help our severely tested moods.
Coronavirus Moves Ever Closer
There’s no shortage of worrying messages about second line colleagues who have tested positive with the coronavirus. Someone in my age group fighting for their lives in the IC. Another who has lost three family members. Is there anyone left who doesn’t know someone or of someone who hasn’t been violently touched by the coronavirus?
How many more will there be?
Schooling
What is going relatively well here is schooling at home. The primary school teachers in particular are being creative, efficient and they are on hand as and when the kids need them.
They are setting fun challenges and contests for the kids each week. Last week the kids had to send their teacher an optical illusion photo and also undertook a balloon challenge. The latter was a way of getting them moving.
This week they have photos of all the teachers’ home work spaces and they have to guess who works at each ‘desk’. A surprising amount of analytical skills involved I can tell you!
But there is a limit to the amount of online maths questions a kid can do before they rebel.
Teachers Are Heroes
Furthermore, the boys are missing their classmates. They are missing going to school. And they miss their teachers. If nothing else, this coronavirus crisis will make many children understand exactly how much they actually appreciate school.
For parents that a given.
If there is not a whole pot of money for our educators after this crisis has been contained then it won’t just be the teachers protesting on the streets.
Dutch Healthcare System
And that brings me to the next group of heroes in Dutch society. The healthcare workers on the front line. In the hospitals. In the the intensive care departments. In the care homes. The huisartsen. The staff keeping the hospitals running.
Dutch Care Homes Closed to Visitors
Since the 19th of March care homes have shut their homes to visitors in order to protect residents. The majority of these residents are, of course, in the high risk group when it comes to the COVID-19 virus.
My father-in-law is in a care home on the other side of the country to us. The home has not allowed visitors since the 15th March, preempting the government measure. He suffers from dementia. And this is a difficult time for him to say the least.
The care home has set up an online messaging system. We can send photos, videos and messages and vice versa. It’s something.
Meanwhile, three local care homes have all reported COVID-19 cases.
Intensive Care System
The picture is not a rosy one when it comes to the coronavirus and statistics in the Netherlands.
The RIVM states that infection and hospital admission levels are less than they would be without any government measures. However, there is a big maar. There are concerns that the Dutch ICU’s will not be in a state to manage the peak of the coronavirus crisis, predicted to be the end of May.
Listen to this podcast with Diederik Gommers (in Dutch), for more insight.
It’s not just a question of beds and medical equipment, but a shortage of medical staff to care for patients.
And when we get to that stage? Then doctors will be making choices that no doctor should have to make. It’s the Italy scenario looming.
Supermarkets
Another set of heroes are those working tirelessly in the supermarkets. Those people who took a job for a few hours a week filling shelves, or working the tills at a supermarket, suddenly became front line workers. These are the people helping to keep Dutch society going.
There are now security guards on the supermarket doors. A certain number of people are allowed in at any one time. One out, one in. Trolleys or baskets are used to keep track of numbers.
There are limits on the amount of certain products you can buy. If you want flour you are out of luck. In times of crisis, Heel Holland Bakt it seems.
The panic buying has subsided, and the supermarkets are back in control. At least in our neck of the woods.
Are the Dutch Coronavirus Measures Enough?
The measures taken so far are measure that none of us could have imagined just a month ago. Or maybe even a couple of weeks ago. I have lost track.
But the question on everyone’s lips now: are the measures the government has taken enough? Or has it all been too little, too late? Will more measures follow?
Two weekends ago people streamed to the beaches and nature areas. The sun shone and so many people headed out. Which infuriated the Dutch government. And the rest of us who are taking this seriously and staying home unless it is absolutely necessary to leave the house.
“Blijf zoveel mogelijk thuis. Ga alleen naar buiten voor werk wanneer u niet thuis kunt werken, voor boodschappen, of om voor anderen te zorgen. Een frisse neus halen kan, maar doe dit niet in een groep.”
And to anyone who says.. yeah but…. just don’t. I have read many arguments the past ten days from those saying we haven’t been banned from going out (that’s the intelligent lock down theory) so there’s nothing wrong with heading out for a walk. However, when crowds of people huddle together on the beach in the spring sunshine, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that such excursions out are really not helpful. Packed markets? Not handy.
Maybe, just maybe, if you were currently losing sleep and stressing about loved ones who fit in that high risk category, you wouldn’t be joining a queue of cars heading for the beach.
Anyway, the government introduced measures this week to ensure no repeats this weekend. And they seem to have had some impact. Beaches were quieter. Roads were closed off. Parking areas closed.
New Dutch Coronavirus Measures Introduced 23 March
- All events needing a license, including those involving less than 100 people, are cancelled until 1 June
- Groups of three or more who are less than 1.5 meters apart can be fined and dispersed. Households and children under twelve are exempt from this measure
- A maximum of three visitors at home, and only if you are able to retain distance from each other of 1.5 meters
- If you have cold symptoms and breathing difficulties and/or a fever then the whole family must stay home in isolation (with the exception of those in vital jobs)
- Local authorities can close (public) areas if it is not possible to adhere to social distancing measures – parks, holiday parks etc
Where Do We Go From Here?
The intelligent lock down may have worked if all of the population was indeed able to grasp the why and what. But that is, of course, not the case. These party-goers in Delft serve as a good example.
There is a government press conference planned for tomorrow (31st March). The prime minister will inform us of the next steps with regard to school closures, as well as the leisure industry/ culture sector measures which are currently in effect until 6 April.
Will we move to a complete lock down?
Over to You
How are you doing? Are you able to work from home? Staying sane? Got a magic tip on where to source flour?
Stay healthy, stay home.
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