ICU total of 734 Covid patients highest since May; 80,000 more vaccinations given
The number of new SARS-CoV-2 infections rose again on Saturday. The national health agency RIVM reported 7,682 new cases, a five percent increase compared to the previous day but a 13 percent drop versus last week. Hospitals reported a total of 734 ICU patients, the highest number since May.
The seven-day rolling average reached 7,256, the lowest this week. However, it reflects a similar number compared to last Saturday. The total number of new infections for this week was 43,277, a one percent decrease compared to the same period last week.
hospital rates 'back at the level of early January'
The total number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals keeps rising. On Saturday, the patient coordination center LCPS reported a total of 2,348 cases. This is 18 more than the previous day and a five percent increase compared to last week. The number of hospitalized patients has been steadily rising in the past two weeks. Following this trend, we can expect the number of patients to be around 2,467 by this time next week.
The number of intensive care patients remains at a critical level. On Saturday, the LCPS reported 734 IC cases, a net increase of 29 patients. Another 1,614 patients are being treated in regular care facilities, a decrease of eleven patients compared to the previous day.
Head of the LCPS Ernst Kuipers warns that "the influx into hospitals is currently back at the level of early January. This means that hospital occupancy is expected to increase further in the coming week."
Between the afternoons of Friday and Saturday, hospitals admitted 297 new coronavirus patients. Among them, 243 were placed in regular care wards, an 18 percent decrease compared to last week. Another 54 patients were moved to the intensive care, six percent more than last week.
The race for vaccinations continues
In the period between Friday and Saturday, another 77,906 people were vaccinated, an 18 percent increase compared to last week. This brings the number of inoculations in the past seven days to 418,433. So far, 2,742,044 jabs have been placed.
The three cities with the highest number of new infections on Saturday were Rotterdam (330), Amsterdam (272), and The Hague (233). In Rotterdam, infections went down by 31 percent compared to last week. In the Capital, the decrease was 29 percent last Saturday. In the Hague, infections increased by six percent.
Another 31 deaths were also reported as being caused by Covid-19, the RIVM said. That brought the seven-day average to 23. Fatal cases of the coronavirus disease were down 17 percent for the week, the RIVM data showed.
To date, 1,295,324 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the SARS-CoV2 infection. That includes 16,606 people who died from the viral disease.