ICER 2023: Circular targets remain out of reach The Netherlands aims to have a fully circular economy by 2050 and halve its use of raw materials by 2030. In recent years, however, little progress has been made in either regard.
Circular economy: plastics recycling from end-of-life vehicles could be four times higher At present, 85% of plastics from end-of-life vehicles is still incinerated. Only 15% of plastics is reused as a raw material. A survey conducted by RIVM has revealed possibilities to expand recovery of these plastics fourfold by 2030.
No reduction in number of young people with suicidal thoughts Even after a period without any coronavirus measures, the number of young people (aged 12-25 years) with serious suicidal thoughts remains high (16%). After nearly doubling in the last lockdown period (from 9% in autumn 2021 to 17% between December 2021 and February 2022), there has been almost no reduction in this percentage.
Autumn wave of COVID-19 may be starting: vaccination and testing are key Infections with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the Netherlands have been increasing for the past few weeks. Hospital admissions are also on the rise.
Effect of air cleaners on COVID-19 not yet clear It is not yet clear whether air cleaners that can be moved around actually help to reduce transmission of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. These findings are from a literature review conducted by RIVM.
Hypersensitivity reactions to fillers may occur after COVID-19 vaccination People may experience hypersensitivity reactions to fillers following a COVID-19 vaccination.
Quality assessment of SARS-CoV-2 antigen test diagnostics: good performance at public test sites in the Netherlands In their role as WHO reference laboratories, RIVM and Erasmus UMC conducted a study on the quality of SARS-CoV-2 antigen diagnostics in the Netherlands.
Social well-being is improving, compliance with coronavirus measures remains important With the recent easing of the coronavirus measures, social contact and well-being are improving again. Compliance with most measures remains stable for now (such as getting tested by the GGD and avoiding crowds) or is decreasing very gradually.
Downward trend remains steady In the past calendar week, there were 32% fewer hospital admissions of patients with COVID-19 compared to the week before. New arrivals in the ICU were also down by 23% compared to the previous week.
RIVM launches study on Long COVID This week RIVM launched the Long COVID study. RIVM is asking people in the Netherlands who test positive for COVID-19 to sign up for the study via LongCOVID.rivm.nl within 7 days after their positive test result.