Rise in Covid-19 patients continues; Over 800 more coronavirus infections

Hospitals in the Netherlands were treating 161 people for Covid-19 on Thursday, an increase of eight. The three-day rolling average of new patient admissions rose from 7.7 to 10.3, meaning 31 people with the coronavirus disease were admitted to Dutch hospitals from Monday through Wednesday, according to public health agency RIVM.

The agency said on Thursday that 823 more people tested positive for an active infection of the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus, an increase of 37 percent over last Thursday, but a significant decrease over Wednesday's 1,140 new cases. Since Monday, 3,724 people in the country have tested positive, a 60 percent hike over the same days last week.

"The number of COVID patients in hospitals is rising slightly. Sixty percent of them are located in the regions of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. This corresponds with the distribution of new infections," said Ernst Kuipers, the head of the Dutch acute care providers network. He indicated that some patient transfers are taking place to keep the pressure more balanced among intensive care units within the same region.

Outside of the intensive care units, hospitals were treating 131 people for Covid-19, an increase of nine. Over the past three days, six more people have moved into intensive care. After patient discharges, deaths, and transfers to other departments, Dutch ICUs were treating 30 people for the coronavirus disease on Thursday, a decrease of one.

To date, the ICU system has treated 3,065 patients with Covid-19. Of that group, 892 have died and 2,015 were treated and discharged from the hospital.