Covid-19: Hospital patient total nears 550; ICU admissions at warning level

There were 547 people being treated in Dutch hospitals for Covid-19 on Friday, the most since June 3. At the same time, the three-day average for Covid-19 patient admissions to intensive care hit 10.3, slightly higher than the level the Cabinet said could indicate new coronavirus restrictions are needed.

Intensive care units were treating 116 patients for the coronavirus disease, an increase of ten. That reached the highest total witnessed since June 3. The acute care departments have taken on 31 coronavirus patients from Tuesday through Thursday.

Outside of the ICU, other hospital departments were treating 36 more patients than on Thursday, or 431 in total, the patient coordination office LCPS said. Figures from the RIVM also showed that 93 patients were admitted between Tuesday and Thursday for Covid-19, for a three-day average of 31. The cautionary level for that statistic was fixed at 40.

In addition to ICU admissions, two other indicators sat above alarm levels, with 16 people out of every 100,000 residents testing positive for the virus daily, and the basic reproduction number of the virus standing at 1.33, according to data from health institute RIVM.

This does not necessarily mean that the Cabinet will act swiftly and bluntly. "You are not going to press a certain button because that signal value has been exceeded," Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at a press conference on Friday. "The toolbox contains many resources that we can use, and we can also work more focused than in April and May, for example, because we now know much more."

Since the end of February, the intensive care system has treated 3,216 people from the Netherlands for Covid-19. That includes 904 people who died while they were patients, and 2,084 people who were eventually discharged from a hospital.