Coronavirus infections down 8 percent to 6,689; Hospital total falls again

The number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands reported in Saturday’s daily update equaled 6,689, the lowest since October 11. The total was eight percent lower compared to Friday, and 32 percent lower versus a week ago.

The seven-day rolling average has consistently fallen during the past week, dropping to 7,634 on Saturday. Just a week ago that figure was slightly over ten thousand. Since Monday, the RIVM disclosed that 44,696 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, down 26 percent compared to the same period last week.

Rotterdam (422), Amsterdam (384), and The Hague (210) were the three cities with the most infected residents reported Saturday. All three showed significant improvement over last week, with Rotterdam’s total down by 34 percent, Amsterdam by 32 percent, and The Hague by 44 percent.

It was also the fourth consecutive day where hospitals reported a decrease in the number of Covid-19 patients admitted. The Dutch medical system was treating 2,384 people with the disease on Saturday, 61 fewer than the previous day, data from patient coordination office LCPS showed.

For the first time since September 4, the hospital total showed an overall decrease when compared to the same day a week earlier. Saturday’s tally included 1,782 patients outside of intensive care, down 60 compared to Friday afternoon, and another 602 patients in intensive care, a net decrease of one. The hospitalized patient total was nearly three percent lower than last Saturday.

At least 248 Covid-19 patients were admitted during the 24-hour period leading up to Saturday afternoon, and 37 people were moved into the ICU during that time, the LCPS said. Intensive care units have treated 4,780 patients with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, while 21,162 were treated outside of an ICU. Some 4,052 patients died while they were in the hospital, according to figures provided by nonprofit organization NICE.

The RIVM noted in its own statistics that another 73 deaths were also definitively linked to respiratory illness Covid-19. That meant that 7,960 deaths were determined to be caused by the coronavirus disease since the end of February. Over the past seven days, an average of 81 deaths attributed to Covid-19 were reported daily.

To date, a total of 404,401 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the viral infection.