People who come forward in the source and contact investigation of the GGD can also have themselves tested without complaints from 1 December. This also applies to people who receive a warning from the CoronaMelder app, Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) announced on Tuesday during the government’s press conference.
People who come forward in the source and contact investigation of the GGD can also have themselves tested without complaints from 1 December. This also applies to people who receive a warning from the CoronaMelder app, Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) announced on Tuesday during the government’s press conference.
The two groups are comparable: they are people who have been in the vicinity of someone who has tested positive for the corona virus for some time. The close contacts of these persons have run the risk of being infected by that person.
The GGD maps these persons through the source and contact investigation by asking the corona patient about his environment. The CoronaMelder detects close contacts based on signals that smartphones exchange with the app.
People who receive a report from the app or are approached by the GGD in the regular contact investigation can have themselves tested five days after the last contact with this person, according to De Jonge. “As is the case now, you will stay in home quarantine until that fifth day.”
People who do not appear to be infected with the corona virus after a test, no longer need to be quarantined and can continue with their daily life. Prime Minister Mark Rutte emphasized with the words to insist that the Dutch must continue to adhere to the imposed measures.
Expansion of test policy was waiting for test capacity
Until December 1, people can in principle only be tested as soon as they experience (mild) complaints. Close contacts are now being asked to go into home quarantine for ten days. But as long as they did not develop complaints, they could not be sure whether they are infected with the corona virus due to a lack of tests.
Until shortly before the release of the app, experts advised De Jonge to offer people a test after a warning, even without complaints, especially around the release of the CoronaMelder.
With this strategy, the GGD can find people who carry the virus but do not (yet) experience symptoms and provide advice. By isolating positive cases with home quarantine, the further spread of the coronavirus can be prevented.
