Covid-19 intensive care patients falls for fifth day straight

There were 21 fewer Covid-19 patients being treated in intensive care on Thursday compared to a day earlier, said patient coordination office LCPS. The number of ICU patients totaled 1,258, marking the fifth straight day with a decline.

It represents nearly a 12 percent drop since the peak of 1,424 was reached on April 7, according to LCPS data. Still, the number of patients was roughly 50 percent higher than before the global pandemic.

Some 1,206 patients were being treated in the Netherlands, and another 52 patients were receiving care in German medical facilities. The decline in care at German hospitals was because one person died and two others were brought back to the Netherlands.

"The available capacity is stable," the LCPS said. But it said patients need to continue to be better spread out across the country so all hospitals can resume other necessary treatments unrelated to coronavirus.

Jaap van Dissel, director of infectious disease at public health institute RIVM, updated parliament on the state of affairs around the coronavirus on Thursday. "We've had the peak," he said. In the ICUs there is a flattening of the number of patients admitted. The number of hospitalized patients is leveling off. And the number of reported patients with the coronavirus is only increasing because more tests are being done, he said.

The death rate during the coronavirus crisis is significantly higher compared to the seasonable flu, Van Dissel said. The mortality rate in the Netherlands roughly corresponds to other European countries.