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Study: 'Border traffic hardly affects spread of coronavirus in border region'

Closing borders makes no sense

Discouraging border traffic or actually "closing" border crossings has had little effect on the spread of the coronavirus in recent years. That is the conclusion of a panel of health care experts in a study conducted at the request of the border regions between the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. "Stopping a pandemic by closing the border is totally absurd."

Cross-border research

The research on Covid-19 in the border region was conducted by euPrevent, a Euroregional health network, in collaboration with Maastricht University. The clients include border regions and governments, such as the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the province of Overijssel. A total of 27 healthcare professionals were interviewed: 10 from the Netherlands, 11 from North Rhine-Westphalia and 6 from Belgium. Most of them are executives at, among others, GGD/Gesundheitsamt, general practitioner care and elderly care. The data and figures analyzed are from the period from the coronavirus outbreak to May 1, 2021, i.e. roughly up to and including the end of the third infection wave.

In the results of the study, comments are made about the communication between health care providers in the border regions, where much could be gained. The Euregio associations and border mayors speak of successful cross-border cooperation in coronation time. They also boast that through mutual cooperation they have succeeded in keeping the borders between the Netherlands and North Rhine-Westphalia open for "necessary border traffic" during the entire coronary crisis.

Read more on TwenteTV (in Dutch)

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