4,161 new coronavirus infections brings average down 3 percent

The daily total of new coronavirus infections reported on Thursday was 18 percent lower than figures reported both a day and a week earlier. The total of 4,161 brought the seven-day moving average down nearly three percent to 4,569, public health agency RIVM said on Thursday.

The current average was less than half of what it was when the Netherlands entered a lockdown in mid-December. Other than a decline in the number of people testing positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, the moving average has shown little sign of improvement since the last week of January.

At the same time, increases in testing across all age groups, especially among primary school students and children in daycare, has helped drive down the rate in which people test positive to below eight percent this week. Previously, the RIVM said this was likely because children forced to quarantine because of contact with an infected classmate can re-enter the classroom earlier if they produce a negative coronavirus test on or after the fifth day of isolation.

The cities with the most newly infected residents on Thursday were led by Rotterdam (217). Though that city's average fell slightly to 176, the average was nearly 20 percent higher than a week ago. Amsterdam ranked second with 135, which was well below its average of 197. The Hague posted 119 new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, shifting the average down slightly to 108.

Vaccination data was not available from the RIVM on schedule. The agency's data on Wednesday showed an estimated 44,700 people received an injection on average over the past week.

Hospitalizations for Covid-19 were about six percent off the rolling average, with a total of 1,923 patients in hospital care on Thursday afternoon. That total was down one percent from Wednesday, including 1,384 patients in regular care, a net decrease of 13, and 539 others in intensive care, a net decrease of ten.

Despite the decrease, patient coordination office LCPS maintained its belief that a trend of more Covid patient admissions would continue this month. The combined total of Covid-19 patients in hospitals on Thursday was two percent higher than a week ago. Should that trend continue, there will be 1,964 patients in care next week

To date, 1,105,544 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, including 15,730 who died from Covid-19.