Coronavirus 7-day average up 2.4% this week; Covid ICU total hits two-month low
Another 2,735 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, raising the country's seven-day rolling average to 3,631. The average has gone up by 2.4 percent in one week's time, public health agency RIVM said on Tuesday.
The average seemed to be heading back towards the four-thousand mark, roughly the level reported by the RIVM before winter storm Darcy limited the number of available coronavirus test locations in the Netherlands. Test sites also faced shutdowns on Monday morning because of a Code Red weather warning due to slick, slippery roadways.
The RIVM also said it learned of 88 more deaths caused by Covid-19 on Monday, slightly higher than a week ago. It raised the moving average up to 60.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 patient total in hospitals remained about level on Tuesday afternoon. There were 1,926 such patients in care, a net increase of four, even though the number of patients in intensive care fell by ten to 526.
That was the lowest total of ICU patients with Covid-19 reported by patient coordination office LCPS in two months. There were another 1,400 patients being treated in regular care, an increase of 14.
The hospitalized total was four percent lower than one week ago. Should that trend continue, there would be about 1,850 patients in care next Tuesday. The LCPS said it expected the number of patients to continue to fall this week, but said the full impact of more contagious coronavirus mutations was likely to lead to an increase in infections and hospital admissions.
In fact, the number of new Covid-19 patients admitted into care during the preceding 24 hours was the highest recorded since February 1. Some 209 people with the coronavirus disease were admitted into regular care wards, and 32 others were placed in intensive care. Both figures were nearly 19 percent above the week's average.
To date, 1,034,795 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the coronavirus infection, including 14,929 who died from Covid-19.