We're not in a good place for this, in NL: huge scaling up of palliative capacity (hotels), but no plans to increase curative capacity, other than begging for IC beds with the German and Belgian governments and blocking the EU coronabonds initiative for petty reasons (some horrific statements from the Christian rightwing in Dutch politics (they're in government too)

I'm happy to live in Belgium these days. We have enough IC beds and respiratory equipment. Testing policy is also being changed. Belgium is going to test as many people as possible. Upto now labs did 2000 tests a day, but not everyone with symptoms was tested, only the most severe cases. WHO has made it clear that increasing the number of tests is an important success factor in the fight against the coronavirus.Testing people thoroughly is necessary to properly map and flatten the growth curve of the virus.
Locking down a country is not enough to stop the virus.

Was just reading an article on IC beds; Germany has 25.000, France 7.000, UK 5.000. The Germans are doubling capacity to 50.000. They are also taking Dutch patients. I fear for those who get ill in the UK.

After 10 years of deep cuts into our health service, we now have about 1100 IC beds, ie. 6.7 per 100000 inhabitants. We're reqeusting beds from Germany and blocking Eurobonds, from a calvinistic notion that peoples around the mediterranean don't have our "self discipline" and "coolheadedness". Many centrist opinion pieces in the press, last week, about that last aspect. And the Finance Minister stating such sentiments outright.

I'll leave this photo here of Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema cycling home from the office. (Photograph by the excellent Thomas Schlijper)

Was supposed to be in Keukenhof today.

I see that it is sunny and in the mid 60's f today in Leiden. It has to be hard to stay inside on such a beautiful day.

Stay safe

It's lovely. I'm doing work meetings with the windows open, coffee on the patio, and lunch. Grateful for the warm spell, even though it's record-breakingly warm yet again.
Amazing air quality in Rotterdam at the moment. My brother is a ship's Pilot in Flushing and told me yesterday that from Westerschelde he could see as far as the tall chimneys at Maasvlakte, a distance of 30 NM.