{"id":118130,"date":"2020-10-01T13:10:53","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T11:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=118130"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:06","slug":"eur-students-working-at-the-ggd-we-want-to-do-our-bit-to-combat-the-corona-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2020\/10\/01\/eur-students-working-at-the-ggd-we-want-to-do-our-bit-to-combat-the-corona-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"EUR students working at the GGD: ‘We want to do our bit to combat the corona crisis’"},"content":{"rendered":"

EUR students Amber Krifa, Samu\u00ebl Verdaasdonk and Tess Zijlstra all work at the corona departments of the GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond. They are witnessing the corona crisis up close. What do they do exactly and what do they think of the students’ role during this corona crisis?<\/p>\n

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Amber Krifa in her office at the GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond<\/span><\/p>

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Amber Krifa is currently having \u2018hectic working days\u2019. The Criminology student has been working fulltime at the corona administration department of the GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond since the beginning of May. All results from test sites, laboratories, hospitals, general practitioners or other GGD\u2019s are sent to her department. Her task is to process the positive results into the system. She prepares a medical file and makes sure that general practitioners are aware of the results. \u201cWe start at 8.30 am and normally work through to 5 pm. But you do notice that it is much busier than it was a few months ago now that we are in the second wave. We work long days. Yesterday I sat here until 7 pm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting busier<\/h2>
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Samu\u00ebl Verdaasdonk <\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

The files go from Amber\u2019s department to Samu\u00ebl Verdaasdonk and Tess Zijlstra. They both study Econometrics and work at the source and contact tracing department. Amongst other things, it is up to them to inform the people who have tested positive about their results. Just like Amber, Samu\u00ebl and Tess notice that the number of infections is rising. \u201cOur workload has increased, but fortunately the GGD is mobilising more and more people,\u201d Samu\u00ebl says. Tess adds: \u201cStill, my manager came to us yesterday at 4.30 pm to hand over new files. Normally that never happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Empathy<\/h2>

Tess and Samuel tell us that their work calls for a lot of empathy. \u201cOf course, we don\u2019t just phone people up to pass on their results, but we also ask a lot of things about the person concerned, such as what their circumstances are and if they\u2019re in the at-risk group,\u201d Samu\u00ebl goes on to say. \u201cWe find out who has been in contact with the patient and check very carefully how the patient is doing. We ask if they are able to self-isolate and what their home and health situation is like. When people are in difficult circumstances, we can put them through to the helplines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018At the end of the day, I sometimes have to shed a tear because it\u2019s only then that I realise how difficult the situation is for people who have an underlying condition\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTess Zijlstra\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Samu\u00ebl finds conversations with self-employed people (ZZPers) particularly difficult. \u201cIf self-employed people get corona, all of a sudden they have no income. I really find that very distressing for them.\u201d Tess finds it hard to break the news to people who have an underlying condition. \u201cLike people who have just gone through chemotherapy or have not yet fully recovered from other illnesses. It really affects me because there\u2019s nothing else you can do to help,\u201d she says, her eyes misting over. \u201cAfter a conversation like that at work, you just go on to the next case. But at home, at the end of the day, I sometimes have to shed a tear because it\u2019s only then that I realise how difficult the situation is for these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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