Covid-19 hospital patient total down over 30% in two weeks

The total number of patients being treated in Dutch hospitals for Covid-19 has dropped off by nearly a third in two weeks, said Ernst Kuipers, the head of the Dutch acute care providers network. At the same time, new infections on Wednesday were 29 percent higher than a week ago, and the second highest single-day total since April 24, as the peak in new known infections first started to wane.

"The number of COVID patients admitted has fallen by more than 30% in the past two weeks," Kuipers said of August 20, when there were 177 patients with the coronavirus disease. "This decline seems to continue towards the lowest level from the end of July."

There were 122 people being treated for the coronavirus disease in Dutch medical facilities on Wednesday, four fewer than the previous day. It included 32 people in intensive care, a decrease of one, and 90 outside of intensive care, down three, according to patient coordination office LCPS.

Public health agency RIVM said that five people were moved into intensive care for Covid-19 treatment between Sunday and Tuesday. During that time, 22 people with the disease were admitted to a hospital. Since the end of February, 3,039 residents of the Netherlands were treated for Covid-19 in the ICU, with 886 people dying in intensive care.

Some 1,999 people were released from the hospital after they were treated in intensive care.

Early data from the RIVM on Wednesday also showed that 734 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus. That total was nearly 29 percent higher than a week earlier, and the highest single-day increase since August 11.

On that day, 779 people were revealed to have the infection, which had been the most in one day since April 24 when 806 new infections were disclosed. So far, 1,723 people have tested positive for the virus this week, a week-to-week increase of ten percent.