A woman from Diemen on the outskirts of Amsterdam has been diagnosed with coronavirus, making her the second Dutch victim of the disease, the public health institute RIVM said on Friday lunchtime.

The woman has no connection with the first Dutch victim, from the south of the country, but had also recently been in Lombardy in Italy, where the virus is rampant, health officials say.

The infection was confirmed on Thursday night and the woman is being quarantined at home. Officials are now trying to trace everyone who has come into contact with her since her return.

The first Dutch coronavirus patient is a 56-year-old man from the village of Loon op Zand, north of Tilburg, Dutch media reported on Friday.

The man was hospitalised in Tilburg on Wednesday after twice testing positive for the virus, in line with protocol, health officials said. He is being treated at the Elisabeth-TweeSteden hospital in an isolation unit and is said to be responding well.

The man had recently returned from a visit to the Italian region of Lombardy where some 655 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus and 17 people have died.

Health officials are now trying to trace his movements since his return. Several sources have told local broadcaster Omroep Brabant that the man had celebrated Carnaval in both Tilburg and in Loon op Zand.

All identified contacts will be monitored to halt the spread of the disease.

This involves taking their temperature twice a day and reporting it to the local health board. They must also report any other symptoms. ‘These measures will help reduce the risk of the disease spreading in the Netherlands, the RIVM said.

Symptoms

The World Health Organisations says common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

The WHO’s standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing and thoroughly cooking meat and eggs.

People should also avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing, the world health agency said.

Fears

Virology professor Eric Snijder told RTL Nieuws on Thursday that healthy people have nothing to fear from the disease.

Some 80% of victims develop mild symptoms and only a small proportion of the total number of people who are infected will die. They are likely to be elderly or already be suffering from health problems.

‘If I compare it with a real killer virus like ebola, then the chance of survival is very small, he said. ‘But the coronavirus is the opposite.’

Economy

Meanwhile, Dutch central bank president Klaas Knot told a meeting in Amsterdam that the coronavirus outbreak may have a major impact on the economy.

‘It is still too early to estimate the impact of the pandemic, but it is safe to say that it could be a severe knock to the global economy,’ he said.

The Sars outbreak 15 years ago led to major losses on the stock exchange, but since then, ‘China has grown from the sixth to the second biggest economy in the world since the Sars outbreak,’ he said.