Dutch coronavirus infections at lowest point in 32 days; Down 35% for the week

For the first time since October 9, fewer than six thousand people were confirmed as testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus according to daily statistics released by the RIVM. The Dutch public health agency said on Sunday that 5,703 people tested positive for the viral infection, the lowest figure in over a month.

The tally was nearly 15 percent lower than Saturday’s total, and was 35 percent below figures reported a week earlier. It dropped the seven-day rolling average down to an even 7,200.

For the week ending Sunday morning, some 50,399 tested positive for the coronavirus infection, RIVM data showed.  That represented a 27 percent improvement compared to the previous week, when 68,791 were diagnosed with the infection.

The three cities with the most infections were Rotterdam (374), Amsterdam (338) and The Hague (147). All three continued to show improvement compared to last week, with Rotterdam down by 40 percent, Amsterdam by 36 percent, and The Hague by 49 percent. Rotterdam’s seven-day average through Sunday stood at 481, with the other two cities at 362 and 248, respectively.

The total number of Covid-19 patients being treated in Dutch hospitals also fell further into Sunday afternoon, with fewer than 2,300 patients hospitalized for the first time in almost two weeks. “The number of covid patients in the clinical wards is declining rapidly. That is beneficial and offers space for regular care,” said Ernst Kuipers, the head of the Dutch acute care providers network.

It was a remarkable improvement considering less than a month ago, Kuipers laid out a doomsday scenario where he said hospitals would be simultaneously treating nearly six thousand patients with the coronavirus disease in November if the Cabinet’s partial lockdown policy was ineffective. Days later, the Cabinet tightened up social restrictions even further to accelerate improvements.

After five straight decreases in the total number of admitted patients, Sunday’s Covid-19 patient total stood at 2,295, which is down by eight percent compared to the same time last week. That included 1,697 patients outside of intensive care, 85 fewer compared to the day before, and another 598 patients in intensive care, down four compared to Saturday.

Patient coordination office LCPS said at least 149 Covid-19 patients were admitted between Saturday and Sunday afternoon, well below the seven-day rolling average of 240. It also said that 36 people were moved into an ICU during that time. The average number of Covid-19 ICU admissions over the past week was 42 per day.

Still, cases where Covid-19 resulted in a fatal outcome topped the eight thousand mark in the Netherlands on Sunday. According to the RIVM, the causes of 44 more deaths were due to the disease. Some 8,004 people in the country have definitively died from Covid-19.