51 corona infections can be traced back to the Nijmegen Café van Rijn on the Molenstraat. This is shown by source and contact tracing carried out by the Gelderland-Zuid Municipal Health Services (GGD).

The Municipal Health Services in this region have now confirmed 51 corona cases that can be traced to Café van Rijn. The people who tested positive, however, were not all physically present at the cafe, says spokesperson Jenny Manders. This means they contaminated one another elsewhere. “If you carry out source and contact tracing, the circle of contacts will, of course, continue to grow.” The Municipal Health Services’ study is still ongoing.

Introduction

Café van Rijn was closed by order of the mayor on 1 September. The infections took place in the days after 25 August. The introduction for new first-year students was being held in Nijmegen at this time.

Earlier this week the Municipal Health Services announced that more than 170 students have gone into self-isolation. In consultation with Radboud University, the Municipal Health Services also posted a message on RadboudNet today, calling on students to comply with the coronavirus regulations.

“You have to realise that if you sit too close to someone, this person may test positive”, according to the site. “And then in a few days’ time you may get a phone call from the Municipal Health Services telling you that you have to go into quarantine for ten days.”

Doubled

The Municipal Health Services report 820 young people between the ages of 20 and 25 years came to get a test last week. This is twice the number compared to the two weeks before. Moreover, the infected persons are not only students.

According to spokesperson Manders there is still enough capacity to test everyone. “It’s a struggle, but we’re just about managing”, she says. She sincerely hopes that the outbreak remains under control as students (and other people) continue to get tested and heed the call to quarantine themselves.

If you have symptoms such as a cold, shortness of breath, high temperature or loss of smell and taste, contact the Municipal Health Services for a test on 0800-1202.