Slight decrease in new covid infections; hospital total also dropped
After three days of increase, the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections has started to fall again. On Saturday, the Dutch national health agency RIVM reported 4,604 new cases. That pushed the seven-day average up to 3,787, a nine percent increase compared to last week.
Saturday's single-day tally was three percent lower than on Friday and nine percent higher than a week ago. The total number of new infections for this week was 23,009, a thirteen percent increase compared to the same period last week.
The three cities with the highest number of new infections on Sunday were Amsterdam (209), The Hague (130), and Rotterdam (99). In the capital, infections went up by 40 percent compared to last week. In The Hague, the increase was two percent. In Rotterdam, infections fell by 40 percent compared to last Saturday.
The number of patients being hospitalized for Covid-19 dropped again on Saturday. Dutch hospitals were treating a total of 1,858 Covid-19 patients. This was a four percent drop compared to the previous day but put in contrast to last week's numbers, hospitalizations have not changed.
522 patients are being treated in intensive care wards, twelve more than the previous day. Another 1,336 patients were being treated in regular care, down 97 patients compared to Friday. If this current decreasing trend continues, there will be around 1,856 hospitalized Covid-19 patients next week Saturday.
Between the afternoons of Friday and Saturday, hospitals admitted 176 new coronavirus patients. Among them, 156 were placed in regular care wards, a 14 percent decrease compared to last week. Another 20 patients were moved to the intensive care, 38 percent less than last week.
Another 62 deaths were also reported as being caused by Covid-19, the RIVM said. That brought the seven-day average to 59. Fatal cases of the coronavirus disease were down seven percent for the week, the RIVM data showed.
To date, 1,051,965 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the SARS-CoV2 infection. That includes 15,200 people who died from Covid-19.