New Covid-19 cases hit highest number since January 9; hospitalizations also on steady rise

Saturday's tally of new SARS-CoV-2 infections was the highest since January 9. The Dutch national health agency RIVM reported 7,668 cases, a three percent increase compared to Friday and a 26 percent rise versus last week.

This further pushed the seven-day rolling average up, which is now at 6,294. The total number of new infections for this week was 37,613, a 27 percent increase compared to the same period last week.

The three cities with the highest number of new infections on Saturday were Amsterdam (322), Rotterdam (262), and The Hague (162). In Amsterdam, infections went down by one percent compared to last week. In Rotterdam, however, infections rose by ten percent compared to last Saturday. In the Hague, infections increased as well, by 42 percent.

Hospitalizations also on the rise

The number of Covid-19 cases in hospitals continues to rise as well. On Saturday, the patient coordination center LCPS reported a total of 12,047 Covid-19 patients. This is six more than the previous day and a nine percent increase compared to last week. The number of hospitalized patients has been steadily rising in the past week. Following this trend, we can expect the number of patients to be around 2,238 by this time next week.

602 patients are being treated in intensive care wards, up 23 compared to Friday. Another 1,445 patients were being treated in regular care, a decrease of 17 patients compared to the previous day.

Between the afternoons of Friday and Saturday, hospitals admitted 322 new coronavirus patients. Among them, 268 were placed in regular care wards, a 20 percent increase compared to last week. Another 54 patients were moved to the intensive care, 23 percent more than last week.

Too early for relaxations

On Saturday, top virologist and member of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) Marion Koopmans warns that the Netherlands might be facing a third wave of the coronavirus. She says that given the numbers, it is too early to relax the restriction measures. She also points out that the speed of the vaccinations will be essential. "It is actually a kind of race against time. On the one hand, you hear that everyone is ready for relaxation. But if you look at how many people have not been vaccinated, it is still just too early," she said.

In the period between Friday and Saturday, another 32,657 people were vaccinated. The brings the number of inoculations in the past seven days to 207,970. So far, 2,040,932 jabs have been placed.

Another 18 deaths were also reported as being caused by Covid-19, the RIVM said. That brought the seven-day average to 30. Fatal cases of the coronavirus disease were down 17 percent for the week, the RIVM data showed.

To date, 1,194,580 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the SARS-CoV2 infection. That includes 16,260 people who died from Covid-19.