New coronavirus infections drops for second straight day
The number of people testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus fell for the second consecutive day on Monday, according to preliminary data from public health agency RIVM. Some 482 people gave a positive test result, the lowest since August 5. It brought the total number of people infected with the virus since the end of February to about 65 thousand.
Acute care network chair Ernst Kuipers asked people to continue to remain vigilant and follow to maintain a safe social distance and to get tested for the virus when health symptoms arise. "Today, in part of the Netherlands, pupils from primary and secondary education are going back to school," he said. "That is a great moment. It remains important that both parents and pupils remain alert and observe the measures to prevent the number of infections from rising further."
Despite the slight drop in infections, the number of admitted patients being treated in Dutch hospitals for Covid-19 rose to 165. There were 39 patients being treated in intensive care, an increase of three in a single day, patient coordination office LCPS said on Monday. Another 126 people were being treated in other hospital departments for the coronavirus disease, up three from Sunday.
According to the RIVM, 18 people were admitted to the hospital from Friday through Sunday. Nine people with the disease were also moved into intensive care.
Since the end of February, some 2,998 people have been treated in intensive care units for Covid-19. That includes 874 people who died while in intensive care, and 1,933 who were discharged from the hospital.
Last week, the regional and municipal health services across the Netherlands completed 102,487 tests for the coronavirus strain. It was the second-highest number of tests conducted in a single week, the organization GGD-GHOR said. The public health services carry out the majority of testing in the Netherlands, with hospitals and clinics typically also performing a few thousand every week.