COVID-19 cases in Netherlands jumps to 82 from 38, boxing event cancelled

The number of people in the Netherlands infected with COVID-19 has increased from 38 to 82 in one day, Dutch Minister for Medical Care Bruno Bruins announced on Thursday.

The sharp increase can partly be explained by the fact that people who have had symptoms for some time now report to their doctors, according to the minister.

The World Port Boxing event, to be held on April 4 in Rotterdam, is the first professional sports event to be canceled in the Netherlands because of the coronavirus outbreak.

With participants coming from different countries, such as the Czech Republic, France and Italy, the organizers feared complications.

The Rotterdam Marathon, to take place on the same weekend of April 4 and 5, will continue as usual for now.

A 56-year-old man from Loon op Zand, in the southern province of North Brabant, became the first person in the Netherlands diagnosed with the novel coronavirus on February 27.

Many of the new patients have recently visited northern Italy, according to the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.