Six more Covid-19 deaths as testing increases 17%; Three schools closed over teacher infection

Six more people in the Netherlands died last week as a result of respiratory illness Covid-19, public health agency RIVM said. It raised the number of deaths in that country to 6,065.

A total of 11,831 have been hospitalized for the coronavirus disease, an increase of three. The RIVM also said that 165 more people tested positive for the virus responsible for the disease, increasing that total to 48,948.

More people were tested for the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus last week than any week prior, with 57,501 tests completed, a 17 percent increase. However, the municipal health service GGD said the early rush to register for a test could be waning, with 16 percent fewer test appointments made over the Friday-Sunday period than a week earlier.

In the two weeks that testing has been made available to the entire public, nearly 107 thousand tests were completed. While the GGD said it wanted to deliver results to people within 48 hours, in at least four percent of cases that takes longer, with one person telling NL Times it took nearly a week for their results to be communicated to them.

A teacher in Glanerbrug, Overijssel was among those who tested positive this past weekend, with several other teachers in the area reporting symptoms of a cold. As a result, three primary schools there, Ouverture, De Troubadour, and Glanerbrug-Zuid were closed on Monday.

The three schools share a common building, according to broadcaster RTV Oost. Ouverture will remain closed while more testing of other staff members is conducted. The other two schools are likely to reopen on Wednesday.

Also on Monday, an association of infectious disease doctors and another group of pediatricians argued that children with runny noses should not be prevented from attending their school or childcare. Current national policy is that children with even the most minor symptoms of a cold be sent home until the symptoms clear up or a SARS-CoV-2 test shows a negative result, which has led to some children being sent home repeatedly for no reason, they argue.

It would be better instead for the parents of children with chronic symptoms to discuss them openly with schools and caregivers. "The child can then just go to school. If in doubt or if complaints develop, the child must stay at home until the (new) complaints pass, or the known complaint pattern has returned," the medical associations advised.