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It feels sometimes as if the whole world of science is working exclusively on finding a cure for COVID-19.

In the current phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries across Europe are fortunately seeing a decrease in detected infections, hospital admissions and deaths.

With every month, every week that passes, we’re seeing the publication of more and more medical data and studies on COVID-19.

After the press conference last Tuesday, we now know that the restrictions on our lives will only be slightly lifted in an attempt to slowly and carefully return to something we once called ‘normal life’.

Everyone agrees that we are living in a very special time, to say the least, in a situation that none of us has ever experienced. We are also exposed to news articles and opinions on a daily basis that discuss the way forward and the decisions to be taken.

We are beginning to hear some good news in these challenging times. The physical distancing measures seem to be working in many countries, including the Netherlands. And the rate of infection is slowing somewhat, even in disease hotspots such as Italy and Spain.

With the appearance of COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel coronavirus, we need to search for magic bullets, because there is currently no known treatment for the cause of the disease and the therapies being used are focused on treating the symptoms.

Last Sunday, when we all got the government alert on our mobile phones to stay at least 1.5 metres away from each other, we were reminded  to ensure ‘social distancing’ as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  We must follow this advice as it is in our common interest.

The coronavirus pandemic is certainly the greatest crisis that most of us here in Europe have been confronted with in our lifetime. It affects the lives of every one of us, our families, loved ones, our colleagues and neighbours.

There seems to be only one topic in the media these days—the new coronavirus and the disease it is causing, COVID-19. In addition to television, the internet and the newspapers, we are being bombarded with opinions and news on social media.