Hello, I am Bay H., male 28 years old. I have been living in the Netherlands for one year. The following is my experience during coronavirus in the city where I live, The Hague.

What I have experienced is that since the Dutch government has implemented a community quarantine policy, citizens have generally complied with these rules. This is done by closing shops, educational facilities, and tourist attractions. The policy began on March 19, 2020. But since March 16, shops and others have started implementing the recommendation even though (quarantine) has not been officially implemented.

The first time I found out was from a Dutch language course I attended during the last semester. The course manager who is always a reference for foreign nationals, before being able to continue lectures firmly dismissed all learning activities. This was reinforced after he was asked not to come to work until 6 April.

When the policy was implemented, a number of food items were difficult to find, including masks and a number of other medical devices. This is because of panic buying that happened sometime before. Nevertheless, all food supplies are ensured even though residents who want to buy must undergo a long queue. Until now, if you buy it is still a long line. But residents are also compliant with established distance rules, such as being apart from one person to another as far as 1.5 meters. The majority of people have followed this advice.

The Netherlands is very open with various things such as nightlife, but now they are more serious. Especially after the quarantine policy was enacted. A number of bars, cafes, and hangouts that are always visited by young adults are not compact. Young people here usually stop by the cafes after work. But now it’s all closed, so there’s nowhere to go. This also applies to all festival activities and so on. Everything stopped for a while.

Despite the strict efforts of the government, there have been groups of people who dismiss the case which has now become a world pandemic. Many young people in the Netherlands claim not to worry and later infuriated the government. In the middle of March, the number of coronavirus cases in the Netherlands was around 1,400. Now 9,000 cases of coronavirus have arrived.

This is my story, thank you.