It is absolutely no surprise that the Dutch nursing home sector with a total of 125.000 residents would be affected by COVID-19. Before the first case in the Netherlands was registered, alarming signals had already arrived from other countries, indicating that the frail and disabled, multimorbid nursing home population is an easy prey for this virus. In the meantime, despite a visitor lockdown since mid-March, a considerable amount of residents and staff have been infected and around 1700 residents have died from COVID-19 (mid-May). The future will learn what the long-term consequences of this crisis will be for residents and staff and what finally will be the main lessons learnt. This article shows that it is clear that we have some way to go, to ensure that the Dutch nursing home sector, despite its good infrastructure, will be sustainably and proactively recognized, resourced and equipped to fulfil its unique role in long-term care. Moreover the sector has to find its way in preparing itself for the temporary future 1,5 meter society.