Labour party leader Lodewijk Asscher has called on ministers to explain why so few health service workers were tested for coronavirus in the first two months of the epidemic.

Current affairs tv show Nieuwsuur reported on Tuesday night that there was laboratory capacity to carry out more tests but that it was not utilised.

‘In March and April, nurses were begging to be tested,’ Asscher told NOS Radio 1 news. ‘Nieuwsuur’s research shows that something went wrong. Tests were not being used but the official line was that there were not enough tests available.’

Now the infection rate is low, it is essential to find out what went wrong so lessons can be learned for the future, Asscher said. ‘Why have so many people been working without protective clothing and why was there so much uncertainty about the testing policy?

‘If we can learn these lessons now, we will be better prepared if there is a second wave in the autumn.’

Nieuwsuur asked all 55 labs which had been approved by the RIVM to carry out tests about their capacity in March and April.

Some 30 labs replied. The figures they provided show that half the potential testing capacity was used in March and in April this fell to 30%. Several lab directors told Nieuwsuur they were continually waiting for tests to process.

Peter Hoppener, of Brabant care organisation Vivent, told Nieuwsuur that the lab capacity was known at the time.

‘And the fact that coronavirus was an issue in nursing homes and for district nurses was known,’ he said. ‘And these two issues, plus deliberately not testing nursing home staff, is a scandal.’

Supplies

Health minister Huge de Jonge told Nieuwsuur in a reaction that testing options were limited in early March and that this continued because of uncertainty about whether enough supplies could be delivered.

It is still too early to be able to conclude if this had led to people dying unnecessarily, De Jonge said.

On Tuesday, the public health institute RIVM said 11 hospital workers in the Netherlands have died from coronavirus, seven of whom had underlying health problems.