Over 2,500 coronavirus patients have died, and 8,200 have been hospitalized
New figures released by public health agency RIVM showed that 2,511 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died, an increase of 115 from figures released on Thursday. That figure includes the deaths of 26 people on Thursday, a number which could rise as the RIVM acquires more data.
Though a preliminary figure, it would mark the lowest number of coronavirus patient deaths since March 19, when 43 people died. It is also a sharp drop from April 2, when 158 people died in a single day, the most since the pandemic began.
It was the ninth-straight day were a reduction in new hospitalizations was reported by the RIVM. At least 73 people were admitted to a hospital on Thursday, and 153 were admitted on Wednesday, down from 495 on March 31. The peak was registered on March 24 when 557 people were admitted.
In total, 8,197 have required treatment in a hospital. That is out of 23,097 who have tested positive for the virus. The numbers represented an increase in known hospitalizations of 225, and there were 1,335 more people who tested positive for the virus. Those increases, including the 115 more patients who died, were spread out over many days, the RIVM said.
After increasing the number of people who were screened for coronavirus, the Netherlands has now tested almost 116,000 people. Data from the RIVM showed that about six thousand people were tested each of the past three days, a 20 percent increase from last week.
So far, two men in their late twenties are known to be the youngest in the country who died from respiratory illness Covid-19. An extended study produced daily by the RIVM showed that 69 percent of patients who died had a known, serious, pre-existing condition. The most frequent of these included cardiovascular disease & hypertension, chronic lung ailments, and diabetes.
The number of deaths in the Netherlands last week, the 14th week of 2020 between March 30 and April 5, was about 2 thousand deaths higher than the average weekly deaths in the first 10 weeks of this year, Statistics Netherlands said on Friday. The stats office did not say outright that the increase was caused by the coronavirus, but did say that the increase in mortality coincided with the Covid-19 outbreak in the Netherlands.
This week, the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam administered antibodies from someone who recovered from Covid-19 to a current patient. The patient is participating in a scientific study to determine whether the plasma with antibodies will accelerate the recovery of coronavirus patients. Previous studies with SARS patients suggest that this type of treatment can reduce the risk of death.
Meanwhile, at the border between the Netherlands and Germany, members of Dutch military service Marechaussee were having a hard time convincing German tourists not to enter the country. The Dutch did not issue an entry ban to residents of Germany, but they did launch a marketing campaign meant to dissuade Germans from making a visit while the coronavirus restrictions were in place.
With no entry ban, the Marechaussee could do little more than speak with drivers and passengers by stopping cars one by one at the border. "We are advising people to turn around and go back to their own country. They listen, but continue driving," a spokesperson told broadcaster NOS. Every now and then, a vehicle will turn around and make the return trip instead of crossing the border, the spokesperson said.