The time has officially come: all GGD test lanes have been closed after almost three years. The last corona test was symbolically taken in Tiel on Friday.
‘D at was him!” Johan Gielen (55) utters those words with great enthusiasm when he has performed the last corona test. “This gives a very nice feeling that we are finally done.” The reason for the closure of the GGD test lanes is the decision of Minister Kuipers (Public Health) last week that testing for corona is no longer necessary, not even in the event of complaints.
To celebrate, the GGD Gelderland-Zuid organized an event where one last test was taken. It became clear on Friday that testing is an end of the matter. Where hundreds of people crowded together in the location in Tiel during the peaks of the corona pandemic, it is now eerily quiet. “We have only tested a few people this morning,” says an employee.
After 1,034,270 tests, it’s done!
Around noon there are still dozens of people, but they are all GGD employees who have gathered for the special moment. For those present there is also cake from GGD Gelderland-Zuid with the inscription ‘After 1,034,270 tests it’s done! Thank you!’
Then the very last patient walks in. For a moment, his test seems to fall into the water. He appears to have forgotten his ID. “Oh, do I have to go back now?” he sighs. No problem, the employee asks his name and date of birth and then he can still continue. He has to fight his way through the photographers who stab their lenses at the chair where he is going to sit.
“Open your mouth wide and which nostril do you want?” Within a curse and a sigh, the test is administered. “You are the very last, sir,” says Gielen to the patient. “Oh, how strange, I didn’t know that,” he replies. “Get well soon and have a nice day”, are the last words that tester Gielen utters.
Virus control
For him, this means an end to more than 2.5 years of testing. And that also in his hometown of Tiel. “It couldn’t be better,” he laughs. “Before this I was a DJ and traveled all over the world. But with the lockdown that of course came to a standstill. Then I wanted to contribute to the fight against the virus.”
There were also tough times when the virus flared up enormously, he acknowledges. “Sometimes I worked almost every day. And I sometimes had to deal with aggression from people who sat on the chairs. But yes, at a certain point you are in such a working position that you can deal with it with a wink and you remain calm.”
He now returns to his old love: music. “And I’m going to travel the world again, wonderful,” he beams.
Moniek Pieters, director of GGD Gelderland-Zuid, is also happy. “This is really special. It’s the end of a three-year era. Those years have not left us in the cold clothes, because we have worked under high pressure.” Since June 1, 2020, the GGDs have conducted more than 31.6 million tests in almost twelve million people. About a quarter of all those tests were positive. During the crisis, the GGD sometimes also had to scale up considerably, and that did not always go smoothly. But Pieters thinks that if there is another virus outbreak, the organization is prepared for it. “We have learned from this crisis.”