Shirley, who moved from Beijing to the Netherlands with her family 18 months ago, said that most of her Chinese acquaintances are choosing to stay despite an increasing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

As of March 28, the number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 9,762, with 1,159 new cases; meanwhile, the number of fatalities reached 639, registering an increase of 93 cases, according to de Volkskrant, a local newspaper in Netherlands.

"The growth of confirmed cases, soaring in recent weeks , has far exceeded the expectations of Dutch experts," she said.

"However," she added, "as a society running in transparency, all data released by the country reflects the true situation."

According to Shirley, there are rounds of deliberation and evaluations behind every single measure taken in the Netherlands, but this can lead to inefficiency when faced with a pandemic.

Despite recent shutdowns of schools, restaurants and sport clubs, the government has yet to announce a state emergency, though it has suggested that people should stay at home. 

However, while they are still being allowed to walk freely in public without face masks, many Dutch people have heeded the official advice to stay at home, provided that they do not have to go out for essential work-related tasks or errands. The roads have been almost deserted aside from some children spotted playing together sporadically.

"From the first confirmed case almost a month ago until now, the rational response and the humanitarian measures taken in the Netherlands have enabled the country — from the government to ordinary people — to run in an orderly manner thanks to the abundant stocks and supplies that ensure the entire country can stay calm," she explained.

"Many people in the Netherlands, confident in local medical and governmental capabilities, support the proposal of group immunity. They believe that since the virus, which has been transmitted around the globe, cannot yet be eradicated, group immunity can stave it off, benefitting seniors and vulnerable people," she added.

"Although a lockdown was unable to pass at the parliament in a recent vote, it remains an option in case the epidemic is aggravated and leads to a precipitous growth of the death toll," Shirley said, quoting Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister.

To counteract the impact of the pandemic, the Dutch government launched an economic stimulus plan to help local enterprises and individuals experiencing financial woe. In addition, children are supposed to learn at home with iPads  or computers, which is the same as what they had been doing in school.

According to Shirley, there were a few cases of discrimination that were targeted at people of Asian descent in the Netherlands when Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, first experienced the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. However, such cases are now rarely heard of, as the COVID-19 has proved itself to be a pandemic that also affects Europe.

"There are lots of Chinese people settling down in the Netherlands, yet few of my acquaintances feel rushed to head back to China because our work and families are here. By learning from Wuhan, we have developed a strong awareness, which enables us to adopt protective approaches and stock up on all necessities in a timely fashion," she said.

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