Whopping 8,764 test positive for coronavirus; Covid-19 patient total nearing 2,000

Some 8,764 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, by far the most new infections reported in a single day, public health agency RIVM said on Wednesday. The total broke a record set on Sunday by 580, and was a full 20 percent higher than a week earlier.

The RIVM also said that 59 more people died from Covid-19, the most reported in a single day since the end of April. Some 6,873 people are confirmed to have died from the disease thus far.

Already this week, nearly 25 thousand people have tested positive for the viral infection, roughly 16 percent more than the same period a week ago. During the seven days prior to Wednesday, an average of 7,951 positive diagnoses of the virus were revealed.

The three cities with the most new infections in the RIVM's latest data were Amsterdam (751), Rotterdam (475) and The Hague (292). Amsterdam's tally rose by 18 percent, while the other two cities should drops of 15 and 10 percent, respectively. Infections shot up in Zaanstad, which showed three times more infections on Wednesday (202) than a week earlier.

Over a quarter of a million people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the viral infection since the end of February. The total rose to 253,134 with the new RIVM data.

New calls for a total lockdown

Wednesday's data comes one week after the Netherlands entered a partial lockdown meant to slow the spread of the virus, and three weeks after an initial series of stricter measures were put in place including a recommendation that people wear face masks in indoor public spaces. Some experts speculated that the second wave of infections was beginning to slow because of the restrictions, while others said it was far too early to celebrate.

Virologist Ab Osterhaus appeared on television program Op1 Tuesday night, calling for a weeks-long total lockdown. "We must push the virus and drive it out of the country. With a total lockdown," perhaps for four weeks in duration, he said. He pointed to successes in Australia, New Zealand and Japan using lockdown methods, and criticized the Netherlands for not having a real strategy for dealing with the second wave of infections.

"The number of covid patients continues to rise. This follows the continuous increase in the number of infections," said Ernst Kuipers, the head of the Dutch acute care providers network. Kuipers said this after a period in which hospitals moved 53 more coronavirus patients into intensive care.

Covid-19 patient total reaches 1,943

With at least 232 new hospitalization for Covid-19 in the Netherlands over the past 24 hours, the current number of patients being treated for the coronavirus disease topped 1,900 on Tuesday. A patient level that high has not been seen in the Netherlands since the first week of May.

There were 1,943 people being treated for the disease in Dutch hospitals on Wednesday, an increase of 84. That included 1,493 patients outside of ICUs, an increase of 53, and 450 patients in intensive care, an increase of 31.

The patient total has risen by 20 percent since last Wednesday. "The ICU admissions are currently increasing proportionately faster than the clinical admissions," Kuipers said.

"Over the past seven days, the number of ICU admissions has increased by 50% and the number of clinical admissions by 27%."

At least 14,130 patients were hospitalized with the disease, including 3,993 who were treated in ICU since the end of February. A total of 1,020 intensive care patients died while in the hospital, and 2,264 were treated and released.