The Netherlands considered a herd immunity strategy and its case fatality rate is now 7% as of 2020-03-29.

The claim has two parts: (a) the Netherlands considered or flirted with a herd immunity strategy, and (b) its case fatality rate (cumulative reported COVID-19 deaths divided by cumulative confirmed cases) was about 7% as of 2020-03-29. Judge it on data available on or around that date, using RIVM figures or a standard tracker (JHU CSSE, Our World in Data, Worldometer) for 28–29 March 2020. Because 'flirted with' is loose, part (a) holds if official statements or credible contemporaneous reporting show Dutch government leaders publicly discussed or floated building herd/group immunity as part of their approach, for example Rutte's 16 March 2020 address. It fails only if no such official discussion occurred. Because '7%' is a rough figure, part (b) holds if the computed CFR is about 6.5–7.5%. True: both parts hold. Mostly true: (a) holds and the CFR is close but slightly outside the band (about 6–6.5% or 7.5–8%). Mostly false: (a) holds but the CFR is clearly off (for example 5–6% or 8–9%). Also mostly false: the CFR is about right but the herd-immunity framing is a substantial distortion, such as no official discussion of the idea beyond a passing remark. Mixed: roughly one part holds and the other clearly fails. False: the CFR was far from 7% (below about 5% or above about 9%) and the herd-immunity point also fails, or the figures show the statement wrong outright. Do not mark the claim down because CFR depends on testing levels or is a poor proxy for lethality. The claim is only about the reported CFR figure and the policy consideration, not that one caused the other.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 [PDF] Epidemiologische situatie COVID-19 in Nederland - RIVM RIVM (Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) · 28 March 2020

   “Tot en met 28 maart 10:00 uur zijn er in Nederland in totaal 9762”

2. E2 [PDF] Epidemiologische situatie COVID-19 in Nederland - RIVM RIVM (Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) · 28 March 2020

   “patiënten opgenomen in het ziekenhuis en 639 overleden.”

3. E3 Coronavirus: Dutch adopt controversial 'herd immunity' strategy The Irish Times · 16 March 2020

   “The Netherlands will aim to develop immunity to coronavirus among its population by allowing large numbers to contract the illness at a controlled pace, prime minister Mark Rutte announced in a national address on Monday.”

4. E4 Coronavirus: Full text of Prime Minister Rutte's national address in English NL Times · 16 March 2020

   “we can slow down the spread of the virus while at the same time building group immunity in a controlled way.”

On part (a), Rutte's 16 March 2020 national address spoke of "building group immunity in a controlled way" (E4), and The Irish Times reported that the Dutch were adopting a herd immunity strategy (E3). That meets the criterion. On part (b), RIVM's report of 28 March 2020 gives a cumulative total of 9,762 up to 10:00 that day (E1) and 639 deaths (E2). Reading the 9,762 as reported cases, which the sentence structure strongly suggests but the quoted fragment does not state outright, the case fatality rate is about 6.5%. That is just inside the 6.5–7.5% band, so both parts hold.