Over 10,200 more coronavirus positive tests pushes week total past 63,100

Data from public health agency RIVM released on Sunday showed that another 10,211 people tested positive for an invention of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Since the start of the week, 63,131 new positive test results were disclosed by the RIVM. That total was nearly 9,500 more than the previous week, accounting for a 17.5 percent increase.

Sunday’s tally was also 25 percent higher than last Sunday, and set a new record for most infections reported in a single day. It was just the second time since the start of the crisis that more than 10 thousand positive tests were disclosed, the first time having been on Friday. However, the figure also included data missing from Saturday’s release of information, which was delayed for hours due to IT problems at municipal health service GGD. The Ministry of Health suggested a more accurate picture was formed by the daily average for Saturday and Sunday, or 9,440.

The number of newly infected Amsterdam residents (831) rose by over 14 percent on Sunday compared to a week earlier. Rotterdam figures were basically flat at 628, with The Hague showing an 18 percent rise to 408. The three cities reported more new infections than anywhere else in the Netherlands.

Could more social restrictions be on the way?

While the weekly rate of increase has shown signs of slowing down, it has not been made clear if that is meeting the Dutch government’s expectations. Members of the Cabinet and RIVM leader Jaap van Dissel were expected to convene at the Prime Minister’s residence on Sunday, with the Cabinet getting briefed by the Outbreak Management Team on Monday.

A nationally-televised press conference could follow on Monday or Tuesday evening.

On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte had not only expressed concern for the amount of infections, but also for the percentage of positive tests and the national and regional per-capita rates of infection. He said all options were still on the table, including a lockdown tighter than the partial lockdown implemented on 14 October.

Nearly 300 Covid-19 deaths reported this week; Hospital total rises but ICU total falls

The RIVM also reported that Covid-19 was the cause of 27 more deaths. That put the week’s total at 295, or roughly 42 on average per day. The deaths of 7,046 residents of the Netherlands were definitively caused by Covid-19.

There were at least 191 new Covid-19 hospital admissions from Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, the lowest in at least 11 days and possibly longer, based on data from patient coordination office LCPS. Some 28 people were moved into intensive care since Saturday.

It led to an overall increase in the total of coronavirus patients, which rose by 30 to 2,145. That figure was 30 percent higher compared to last Sunday. The LCPS said 1,657 patients were being treated outside of intensive care, an increase of 43.

The number of Covid-19 patients in ICU fell for the first time since October 10. There were 488 such patients in intensive care on Sunday, a decrease of 13. However coronavirus patients still outnumbered non-covid patients, of which there were 419 in the ICU.

Those figures included the two covid patients transferred from the Netherlands to Germany. Thirty more patients were taken from busy Dutch hospitals late on Saturday and early on Sunday to less busy medical facilities in the Netherlands, the LCPS said.

At least 14,453 residents were treated in hospitals for Covid-19 since the end of February, and more than a fourth of them, 4,169, required care in an ICU. Some 1,060 of those patients died in intensive care, and 2,313 Of the ICU patients were eventually discharged.

To date, 291,254 people have tested positive for the viral infection.