NL – All twelve provinces will likely be red on the map of coronavirus cases in Europe from Thursday. That is the second-highest warning level. The last four provinces that were still orange – Noord-Holland, Noord-Brabant, Groningen, and Drenthe – will take a step up due to the rapidly increasing number of positive tests.
Limburg has surpassed Utrecht as the country’s biggest hotspot. More than 5,300 residents in the province tested positive in the past two weeks. That comes down to 479 positive tests for every 100,000 Limburg residents. That’s 77 percent more than last week’s map.
The ECDC, the European counterpart of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), publishes the coronavirus map every Thursday. The service looks at the number and percentage of positive tests in the two previous calendar weeks. Those numbers are up to and including last Sunday. During that period, Limburg remained just below the dark red limit, the highest warning level. The province exceeded that limit in the past few days. That means that Limburg will probably turn dark red next week. The last time the province was at that highest level was at the end of July.
Gelderland and Overijssel could also turn dark red next week. Zeeland has become the fourth biggest source of infections in the country. In the past two weeks, 382 out of every 100,000 Zeeland residents tested positive, almost 82 percent more than last week’s map. Especially in the predominantly Reformed municipality of Tholen, the number of positive tests is skyrocketing.
The European coronavirus map has four colors. From low to high, these are green, orange, red, and dark red. Countries decide based on the map to tighten the rules for travelers from other countries.
