Doctors and labs no longer have to report positive coronavirus tests to regional health boards, ministers have decided on the basis of recommendations from public health institute RIVM.

Covid-19 no longer needs to be regarded as an “A status” infection, the highest category and one which requires automatic reporting, the health ministry said. 

The number of cases of coronavirus continues to fall and the current variants in circulation are no more serious than the Omicron variant, the RIVM said. The agency also says it is unlikely in the short term that new variants will emerge which have a more serious impact on health. 

An average of 18 people a day are currently being admitted to a hospital general ward with coronavirus, according to the government’s coronavirus dashboard. On June 16 there were 68 patients in a Dutch hospital with Covid, of whom five were in intensive care. 

However, health minister Ernst Kuipers said that even without A status is it important to keep monitoring the virus and its impact on the healthcare system. Currently waste water monitoring and self reporting positive tests are the most important tools for monitoring circulation, he said. 

The government recommends staying home if a person tests positive for coronavirus and feels unwell.