The health minister in the Netherlands abruptly resigned a day after he collapsed from fatigue during a parliamentary session.
Bruno Bruins, the Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare, and Sport, asked to leave his post on Thursday after making headlines for fainting in Parliament on Wednesday. It is not yet clear if the incident is related to his resignation.
“The King has granted this resignation with the highest honors, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, with gratitude for the varied and important services rendered by the minister to Him and the Kingdom,” a Thursday statement from the Cabinet of the King read.
Bruins collapsed while he was addressing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic from parliamentary members. About 35 minutes into the session, he was being questioned about the availability of surgical masks when he suddenly fell backward. He was caught by Social Affairs Minister Wouter Koolmees and left Parliament shortly after.
“I felt faint from exhaustion and intensive weeks. Now things are better again. I’m going home now to rest tonight so I can get back to work tomorrow to fight the corona crisis as best I can,” he said on Twitter after the incident.
In the Netherlands, there have been 2,460 cases of the coronavirus, two recoveries, and 76 deaths, according to the latest reading by the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Worldwide, there have been at least 235,000 cases of the coronavirus, about 85,000 recoveries, and at least 9,786 deaths.
