THE HAGUE - Sending doctors and nurses to Curaçao is not at the expense of healthcare in the European Netherlands. The Dutch of Public Health Minister Hugo de Jonge reports this in a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament about the state of affairs regarding to the corona pandemic.
“Last week Extra Hands for Care recruited staff for the Caribbean part of the Kingdom at my request. In addition to the efforts on Curaçao, Extra Hands for Care still has sufficient staff that care organizations in the Netherlands can call on,” said the minister. On Tuesday, the Forum for Democracy questioned the sending of medical personnel to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, while the care in 'their own country' is lacking. De Jonge will answer separately to the written questions of FvD MP Van Houwelingen.
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Last weekend 48 healthcare professionals traveled to Willemstad via Extra Hands for Care, who are deployed at the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC), at the Health Department to support the vaccination process and at a health clinic for undocumented migrants. Doctors and IC nurses from Aruba and Sint Maarten were also urgently transferred to the CMC. We are still waiting for the arrival of staff that the American employment agency AMI has promised.
That will not be enough, according to De Jonge's letter: “In view of the epidemiological developments and the resulting ongoing and increasing pressure on IC care, additional IC staff will have to be recruited for Curaçao as soon as possible. This will again be called for in the Netherlands via LNAZ and the American employment agency.”
Spread
The minister also discusses the current situation: “The high contamination figures on the ABC islands continue. The number of infections on Bonaire seems to be decreasing slightly, but the number of admitted patients remains high. In Aruba, the number of infections is still high, but stable. The upward trend in Curaçao is continuing for the time being, although the increase is less marked compared to last week. The number of new cases remains low on Sint Maarten and no positive cases can be reported on Saba and Sint Eustatius.
On the advice of the RIVM and after discussions between the Undersecretary of Health, Welfare and Sport and the health ministers of the CAS countries and Lieutenant Governor of Bonaire, the islands are taking maximum measures to prevent the spread of the virus. For example, the current lockdowns on the islands will be continued and Sint Maarten is taking additional measures to minimize the influx and spread of the British variant.”
Vaccination
De Jonge writes about the vaccination program: “In view of the current epidemiological situation and the limited curative facilities, it has been decided, on the advice of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the vaccination authority for the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, to accelerate the vaccination process in the countries. The basic principle is that all adult residents who wish to do so can receive a first injection before 1 May. Every adult in Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and Sint Maarten can now register, with extra attention being paid to the elderly and risk groups. On Saba and St. Eustatius, the entire population had previously been able to be vaccinated.
Curaçao is also working on an even more significant upscaling of the vaccination campaign in order to contain the current outbreak and reduce the pressure on healthcare. With a scaled-up capacity of 10,000 injections per day, the aim is to give all adult residents who wish to do so the first injection with the Moderna vaccine at five different injection locations within 10 days. On Thursday, April 8, 65,000 Moderna vaccines arrived in Curaçao for this purpose.”
