A sign thanking healthcare workers for working during the coronavirus pandemic. 31 July 2020 NL Times NL Times

Monday, February 22, 2021 - 16:05

Coronavirus 7-day average at highest point since Feb. 1; Covid hospital total up 3%

The seven-day average for coronavirus infections in the Netherlands rose to 4,153 on Monday, the highest that figure has been since February 1 according to data from the RIVM. The increase was due to another 4,217 people testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, a daily total which was 47 percent higher than last Monday when testing centers were closed due to icy roads.

It was the fifth consecutive day where the national total was above four thousand. Rotterdam (149) was the city with the most new infections, followed by Amsterdam (146) and Groningen (77). The latter has seen its moving average double in one week's time, rising on Monday to 52.

The total number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals also jumped on Monday, erasing most of the improved situation reported on Saturday. There were 561 patients being treated in intensive care, a net increase of 27, and 1,347 others in regular care, an increase of 32. The combined patient total reflected a rise of three percent to 1,908.

Still, it was about one percent lower than a week ago, but the data showed the possibility that six weeks of improving Covid hospital totals have begun to level off, as patient coordination office LCPS previously predicted. "It is too early to refer to this development as a break from previous weeks, or as the result of the further emergence of the British COVID variant," the LCPS said on Monday.

For three days in a row, the number of new coronavirus patients admitted into regular care has been below the seven-day moving average, which fell to 170 on Monday. Still, another 37 patients were admitted into intensive care since Sunday afternoon, the most since January 26.

At the same time, the RIVM said that 26,855 more coronavirus vaccine doses were administered on Sunday, bringing the total up over a million to 1,014,290. An estimated 230,684 shots were given over the last calendar week, about a nine percent increase over the previous week.

The RIVM was expected to disclose more precise data about vaccines on Tuesday, including the number of shots given which were a patient's second dose.

Some 1,060,901 people have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection over the past year. That includes 15,249 who were diagnosed and died from Covid-19.