Hospitals in southern Dutch province raise COVID-19 alarm

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Hospitals in the southern Dutch province of Limburg are warning the national government that they can no longer cope with new COVID-19 patients. The warning Tuesday comes amid soaring rates of coronavirus infections. Five hospitals in the province that borders both Belgium and Germany raised the alarm in a statement that says they are “heading straight for a healthcare blockage and the entire system is grinding to a standstill.” Amid an autumn surge across much of Europe, the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the Netherlands has almost doubled over the past two weeks from 30.88 to 61.12 new cases per 100,000 people despite more than 80% of the adult population being fully vaccinated.