[COVID-19: patient zero in the Netherlands]

Since December 2019, the world is captivated by SARS-CoV-2, a new coronavirus that shows a lot of similaritieswith previous coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS. Although it was initially seen mainly in China and the surrounding countries, now it also reached Europe, where a large region in northern Italy, in particular, encountered many infections.

Here we describe the first Dutch patient with COVID-19, a 56-year-old man whose infection appeared to be related to a trip to Northern Italy one week before presentation. In the days that followed, the brother of the patient with whom he had traveled, his wife and daughter also tested positive.

At the moment much is still unclear and it is particularly important to quickly identify patients with an increased risk of complications and to prevent unrestrained spread in the Netherlands.