Coronavirus cases up 10% this week; New 3-month high

The national public health agency RIVM reported 8,600 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 on Sunday, as the seven-day rolling average continues to rise. On Sunday, that counter was on 7,679 new daily cases on average, the highest since January 9. The total number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals, both in the clinic and in intensive care, also rose. These numbers were reported while the cabinet is deciding whether to go ahead with the planned 'roadmap' out of lockdown.

Sunday's single-day tally was a three percent increase compared to the previous day and a four percent increase versus last week. The cumulative number of infections for the previous calendar week was 53,756, a ten percent rise versus last week.

The total number of patients being treated for Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals increased again. On Sunday, the patient coordination center LCPS reported a total of 2,478 hospitalizations, a net increase of 50 patients versus Saturday. Following the current trend, there will be around 2,442 Covid-19 hospitalizations next week.

Among the patients, 808 were placed in intensive care, the highest number since April 28, 2020. This was six patients more than the previous day. Another 1,670 patients were being treated in regular care, an increase of 44 cases versus the previous day.

Between the afternoons of Saturday and Sunday, hospitals admitted 284 new coronavirus patients. Among them, 228 were placed in regular care wards, a 5 percent rise compared to last week. Another 56 patients were moved to the intensive care, a 24 percent increase versus last Sunday.

An estimate from the RIVM also showed that, so far, 4,473,682 doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered. That was an additional 109,171 injections on Saturday, bringing the number of vaccines in the past seven days to 1,290,846. This an increase of 223 percent compared to the same period last week.

The Netherlands now ranks sixth among EU countries for the uptake of the first dose of vaccines. According to data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, approximately 23 percent of the adult population in the Netherlands have now received their first dose.

The three cities with the highest number of new infections on Sunday were Amsterdam (428), Rotterdam (417), and The Hague (311). In Amsterdam, cases increased by 70 percent compared to last week. In Rotterdam, the number of cases rose by 16 percent compared to the previous week, and in The Hague, infections went down by three percent this week.

Another 12 deaths were also reported as being caused by Covid-19, the RIVM said. That brought the seven-day average to 21. In the past week, 148 people died of the virus, two percent less than the previous week.
To date, 1,403,833 people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the SARS-CoV2 infection. That includes 16,916 people who died from Covid-19.