Covid-19 rises in ICU but medical boss unconcerned; Antibody experiment halted

There were 23 people with Covid-19 being treated in intensive care on Monday, an increase of five from the previous day. While ICU cases rose, the remaining hospital departments were treating six fewer patients for a total of 81, said patient coordination office LCPS.

With 104 patients in hospitals for the coronavirus disease, acute care leader Ernst Kuipers said he was somewhat indifferent to the slight setback in the ICU. "The number of ICU admissions remains very low. The slight increase of five COVID patients in the ICU is not a cause for concern," he said.

In total, the intensive care units have treated 2,922 patients for Covid-19 in the Netherlands. Of that group, 866 have died, and 1,847 were treated and released from the hospital, according to data from nonprofit organization NICE.

Meanwhile, a study looking at the effectiveness of synthesizing antibodies from the blood plasma of former Covid-19 patients, and administering it to current patients, was temporarily stopped. Researchers at Erasmus MC in Rotterdam and the Sanquin blood bank organizations told broadcaster NOS it seemed about 75 percent of very sick Covid-19 patients already produce the antibodies themselves.

The study parameters are being reconsidered to only provide the plasma in more specific situations instead of to all patients, or to administer it earlier in the test subject's illness. The first version of the experiment saw patients get plasma after they had already been sick for ten days.