THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch health authorities Monday reported no new deaths overnight resulting from the coronavirus pandemic for the first time since the beginning of March.
Officially the Netherlands has reported 49,658 cases of infection, with 69 people testing positive over the last 24 hours. In all 6,090 people have died.
“There has been no report of any deaths,” the National Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said on its website.
The RIVM warned however that “there is a delay between the day a patient was admitted to hospital or died and when it was actually reported”, meaning deaths over the weekend may not yet have been flagged up.
A country of over 17 million people, the Netherlands took an “intelligent lockdown” approach to the pandemic with no stay-at-home orders — less strict than some other European countries.
Restaurants, cinemas, cafes, museums and terraces were all authorised to open on June 1 but with social distancing requirements.
Schools have also largely reopened.
But riot and mounted police had to use water cannons and arrested hundreds of people after clashes broke out on Sunday during protests over viris measures.
© Agence France-Presse
