Daily coronavirus tally drops below 10,000 but hospitalizations soar above 350

For the first time in a week, the number of new coronavirus infections fell below 10 thousand to 9,872. At the same time, the Dutch hospital system admitted 359 more patients suffering from Covid-19 during the 24 hours leading into Tuesday afternoon. It was the highest number of admissions in a single day since November 3, according to figures from patient coordination office LCPS.

The new coronavirus tally revealed by public health agency RIVM was 12 percent lower than on Monday, but still 48 percent higher than a week ago. That caused the seven-day rolling average to jump to 11,788, about 142 percent higher than where the figure sat at the beginning of the month. So far this week, just over 21 thousand people have been diagnosed with the viral infection, a 39 percent increase compared to last week.

The three cities with the most new infections reported on Tuesday were Amsterdam (437), The Hague (267) and Almere (208). While the Amsterdam total was up about 78 percent compared to last week, figures in The Hague more than doubled. Almere also showed the continuation of a two-week surge in infections, with a 53% increase that took its moving average to 187.

Hospital situation quickly worsening

Hospitals were treating a six-week high of 2,289 people for the coronavirus disease, a net increase of 127 since Monday. The hospitalized total rose 17 percent in a week, and put the country on pace to have over 2,680 Covid-19 patients by December 29.

The rapid rise in coronavirus patients at Dutch hospitals prompted Medical Care Minister Tamara van Ark to announce that a great deal of scheduled care and elective procedures would be on hold until the situation improves. Ernst Kuipers, the chair of the national acute care providers association, said that the decision would not yet impact consultations and non-Covid urgent care.

Regular care departments have admitted 243 more patients on average for each of the past seven days. That put the regular care total at 1,703. After accounting for deaths and discharges, the intensive care units were treating 586 patients, the same as a day earlier despite admitting 33 more patients.

The RIVM also noted that the deaths of 116 more people were caused by Covid-19, the most in a day since the first week of November. That figure was over 70 percent above the moving average of 68.

To date, 710,683 people have tested positive for the infection, of which 29,225 were treated in the regular care department of a hospital. Some 6,277 people were treated in intensive care for Covid-19, a disease which has killed at least 10,633 people in the Netherlands.