The empty terraces of cafes and restaurants at the Amsterdam Oostpoort shopping center during the second wave of coronavirus infections. 28 October 2020 - Credit: NL Times / NL Times

Friday, 13 November 2020 - 14:23

Coronavirus infections back up over 6,100 for 3rd straight increase; 5,000th Covid patient admitted to ICU

New coronavirus infections in the Netherlands rose for the third straight day to reach 6,109 on Friday, the highest tally this week. While the total was eight percent higher than the number of those reported as testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection on Thursday, it was still 16 percent lower than figures released a week ago.

Since Monday, some 26,595 people in the country were confirmed as having the viral infection, according to public health agency RIVM. That total was a solid 30 percent lower than the same period a week ago.

The rolling seven-day average went down to 5,570 daily infections on Friday’s news.

The three cities with the most infections were Amsterdam (424), Rotterdam (335) and The Hague (177). While the situation in the capital city worsened by 38 percent, the two latter cities showed improvements of 30 and 20 percent, respectively.

Some 54 more deaths caused by Covid-19 were reported by the RIVM, bringing the seven-day average to 68. As of the end of February, 8,358 deaths in the Netherlands were determined to have been caused by the coronavirus disease.

There was a mix of positive and negative news about the coronavirus situation in the Dutch hospitals. At least 170 more patients with Covid-19 admitted with 32 patients also moved into intensive care units during the 24-hour period leading into Friday afternoon, patient coordination office LCPS said.

That meant that the country’s ICU system has treated 5,013 people with Covid-19 over the past nine months, according to nonprofit organization NICE. The regular care units have treated 22,357 people for the disease. An estimated 4,319 of all patients inside and outside the ICU died during their hospital stay.

There was an overall decrease in the number of patients being treated for the disease in the hospitals on Friday, with the total falling by 20 to 2,181. While the situation outside of intensive care saw a net reduction of 34 patients to 1,572, the patient total in the ICU rose by 14 to 609.

Still, the total was 11 percent lower than a week ago after a seven-day average daily decrease of about one percent. Should that trend continue, there will be fewer than 1,950 admitted coronavirus patients next Friday.