New coronavirus infections drops below 7,000 mark for 6th straight decline; “Plateau reached”: ICU leader

For six days running the number of new coronavirus infections has fallen, with data from Thursday showing 6,996 people having tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Covid-19 patient total in hospitals also fell further, showing a 2 percent decrease compared to the previous day.

“The fairly sharp decline for the second consecutive day is a positive sign. This suggests that we have reached the plateau,” said Ernst Kuipers, chair of the Dutch acute care providers network.

The total number of new coronavirus infections was the lowest reported by public health agency RIVM since October 12. It was down over 8.5 percent from Wednesday’s total, and over 25.5 percent from figures released a week ago. The total lowered the seven-day average down to 8,636, down nearly 1,100 compared to a week ago.

The figures on Thursday pushed this week’s total up to 30,735. That was a full 21 percent lower than the same period a week ago. The three cities with the most new infections for the day were Rotterdam (515), Amsterdam (374), and The Hague (287). All three showed improvements over last week’s figures, with Rotterdam down nearly 11 percent, Amsterdam down almost 25 percent, and The Hague recording a 33 percent cut.

The data also showed that 87 more people died from Covid-19. Over the past seven days that figure has averaged 73 daily, and has risen steadily since the onset of the second wave of coronavirus infections. Some 7,769 have died from Covid-19 since the end of February.

There were at least 261 new hospital admissions for Covid-19 during the 24-hour period leading up to Thursday afternoon, according to figures from patient coordination office LCPS. It said that 35 people with the coronavirus disease were also moved into intensive care units during that time.

There were 2,512 patients with Covid-19 in hospitals on Thursday, down 60 compared to Wednesday. The total included 1905 people outside of intensive care, a decrease of 55, and 607 in an ICU, a decrease of five.

“The LCPS has been operational again for six weeks and has cumulatively moved 1,004 patients between regions to date,” Kuipers said.

To date, Dutch intensive care units have treated 4,699 people for Covid-19, and 20,831 were treated in non-intensive departments. A total of 3,970 patients died while in the hospital.