COVID-19 in the Netherlands
Current COVID-19 activity in the Netherlands — based on ECDC ERVISS weekly data, set against the parallel flu and RSV trajectories.
Current situation: COVID-19
In week 15 of 2026, activity of COVID-19 in the Netherlands is low. The trend — derived from clinical surveillance — is stable.
The classification is based on the ECDC ERVISS weekly reports, drawing on COVID-19 indicators from NIVEL primary care surveillance and RIVM virological data (note that some indicators reflect ILI consultation rates only). Seasonally, infection waves in the Netherlands typically peak during winter, with occasional summer waves driven by new variants; activity is usually markedly lower in late spring between waves. How severe a given season becomes depends on the circulating virus variant and the population's immune status, among other factors.
Data sources and methodology
The current picture for the Netherlands is built on the European Respiratory Virus Surveillance Summary (ERVISS), published weekly by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). NIVEL together with RIVM is the national public-health authority that feeds ERVISS with sentinel primary care and virology data.
ECDC ERVISS
ERVISS is ECDC's weekly pan-European surveillance summary for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV. National authorities — in the Netherlands's case NIVEL together with RIVM — submit harmonised indicators every week, which ECDC publishes in a standardised dataset on Thursdays. Using ERVISS rather than each country's native portal ensures cross-country comparability.
ILI / ARI consultation rates and positivity
NIVEL together with RIVM operates a sentinel network of general practices that report weekly rates of patients consulting for influenza-like illness (ILI) or acute respiratory infection (ARI). A subset of patients is swabbed and tested by reference laboratories, producing pathogen-specific positivity rates for flu, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV.
Why this source
Combining consultation incidence with virological positivity yields a pathogen-specific weekly incidence signal (ILI × positivity / 100). This is the standard European methodology and provides a more robust view than either indicator alone — consultation rates capture illness burden, positivity confirms which pathogen is driving it.
Qualitative classification
The “low”, “moderate” and “high” categories follow seasonal reference values and epidemiological thresholds calibrated to match our classifications for other countries. The ILI × positivity / 100 product is scaled to comparable thresholds using a divisor of 3, which aligns European sentinel peaks with the consultation-equivalent scale used elsewhere. Data refreshes weekly when ECDC publishes the latest ERVISS update, typically on Thursdays.
Frequently asked questions
How is COVID-19 monitored in the Netherlands today?
With population-wide testing wound down, COVID-19 in the Netherlands is now tracked within the RIVM respiratory-virus surveillance. Indicators include Nivel sentinel GP consultations, hospital and ICU admissions for severe acute respiratory infection, virological positivity, wastewater measurements from municipal treatment plants, and variant characterisation. Weekly bulletins are published nationally and Dutch data also feeds the ECDC ERVISS dashboard.
Is COVID-19 still a serious concern in the Netherlands?
COVID-19 is now endemic in the Netherlands and continues to cause hospitalisations and deaths each winter, concentrated in older adults and people with weakened immune systems. For most vaccinated adults with prior infections, current variants tend to cause illness similar to a bad cold or flu. Risk is managed via targeted autumn boosters rather than population-wide restrictions.
What does Dutch wastewater surveillance tell us?
RIVM has run large-scale SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance across Dutch municipal treatment plants since early in the pandemic. Because people shed virus before they get tested or seek care, rising viral loads in sewage can indicate increasing community transmission days to weeks ahead of clinical indicators. The programme is particularly valuable now that individual testing makes case counts unreliable.
Who can get a COVID-19 booster in the Netherlands?
The Netherlands runs autumn COVID-19 booster campaigns advised by the Gezondheidsraad and coordinated by RIVM, typically targeting adults aged 60 and over, people with medical risk conditions, pregnant women, residents of long-term care facilities, and healthcare workers. Boosters are administered by municipal health services (GGDs) and eligible practices. Uptake is reported alongside flu coverage.
Are new variants still being tracked in the Netherlands?
Yes. RIVM and a network of Dutch reference laboratories sequence SARS-CoV-2 samples routinely, detecting new sublineages and their relative growth. Most emerging variants cause illness broadly comparable to their predecessors, but lineages with clear immune escape can drive faster, larger waves. Variant trends are reported in RIVM's surveillance bulletins and shared via ECDC ERVISS.
Want the actual numbers?
You'll find them in the app.
Here you only see the trend. In the app: exact incidence rates, “X out of 100 people infectious”, your personal risk based on age and pre-existing conditions, wastewater trends, 36 countries, home-screen widget.
