All eight million households in the Netherlands will this month receive an letter inviting them to apply for two free coronavirus self tests, the first of which are due to arrive this week.

The letter, which is available in multiple languages, is part of a nationwide campaign to get people to take a self test on returning from holiday or before going back to work or school.

‘I hope that many people will test themselves in the near future before meeting others,’ health minister Hugo de Jonge said. ‘By testing, we are reducing the chance that we inadvertently take coronavirus to our family, work or school, and we prevent clusters.’

Regional health board workers will also hand out free tests to people returning to the Netherlands at all five airports. Students can pick up free tests at their university or school while low income households can get more tests via government donations to food banks.

People who are given a positive result with the self test system are being urged to have a second PCR test at a regional health board testing centre.

Trouw reported last week that the vast majority of the 38 million fast coronavirus tests ordered by the Dutch health ministry remain in storage and only six million have actually been used.

The health ministry tests are mainly used in the ‘test for entry’ which now focuses on seated events only, after the decision to scrap festivals and other large events until September at least. And it remains doubtful if they will all be used before reaching the end of their shelf life, the paper said.