Dutch coronavirus average falls for first time in 3 weeks; Covid ICU total above 600

The average number of new daily coronavirus cases in the Netherlands fell on Wednesday for the first time since December 2. The moving seven-day average went down almost one percent to 11,679 after public health agency RIVM said that a total of 10,447 more people tested positive for the viral infection.

It marked the third consecutive day where the number of people testing positive was below the average. Although infections on Wednesday rose by six percent compared to Tuesday, the total was down seven percent versus the same day a week ago.

So far this week, 31,531 people were diagnosed withe SARS-CoV-2 infection. That was up about 19 percent compared to last week's tally, which set the record for most diagnosed infections in a calendar week, data from the RIVM confirmed.

The three cities with the most infections were Amsterdam (374), The Hague (268) and Rotterdam (230). All three were below their rolling averages, with Amsterdam off by 19 percent, The Hague by 7 percent, and Rotterdam by 23 percent.

Even though hospitals took on 297 more patients with Covid-19, the admitted patient total remained unchanged between Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. During that time, hospitals moved 56 of their coronavirus patients into intensive care, the most since November 3. Five ICU patients have also been transferred to medical facilities in Germany.

There were 2,289 patients with the coronavirus disease in Dutch hospitals on Wednesday. Regular care departments were treating 1,686 of them, a net decrease of 17, while the intensive care units were treating 603, an increase of 17.

The hospitalized total was 17 percent higher than a week ago, and put the Netherlands on pace to have over 2,700 admitted Covid-19 patients by the end of the year. That would be a new peak during the second wave of infections which developed since the end of the summer.

The RIVM also noted that 106 more deaths were linked to Covid-19, raising the moving average to 72. To date, 10,737 people in the Netherlands are known to have died from the disease.

Some 721,071 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection since the end of February. Over 29,516 of them were treated in a hospital, and 6,313 were moved into intensive care units.