New coronavirus cases soar above 9,600; Covid hospital total up 8% this week

Some 9,648 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the most in a single day since January 8, data from public health agency RIVM showed. The daily total was 13 percent higher than on Wednesday, and ten percent above last week's tally.

That pushed the seven-day moving average up to 8,305, a figure which has gone up for eight straight days even as Prime Minister Mark Rutte insisted that the country has reached a peak in new coronavirus infections. That was one justification he and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge used to reduce some lockdown restrictions starting next week.

In fact, the seven-day average was at a high point not seen since January 4. So far this calendar week, 32,236 people have tested positive for the infection, up 16 percent from last week. The percentage of people who tested positive has also continued on a steady rise since mid-March. Roughly 10.5 percent of those tested by the GGD on Wednesday were diagnosed with the viral infection, compared to an average of 10 percent in the seven days prior.

There were 2,682 people being treated for Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals on Thursday afternoon, up three percent in a day. The patient total reached a high point not seen in 105 days, data from patient coordination office LCPS showed. The total has gone up by eight percent in a week. Should that trend continue, there will be over 2,900 patients with the coronavirus disease in care by next Thursday.

The patient total included 839 in intensive care, a net increase of 17. The tally was the highest it has been since April 28 last year. The other 1,843 patients were being treated outside of intensive care, a net increase of 51 after accounting for admissions, discharges and deaths.

While the infection and hospital figures were high, Covid-19 vaccination figures were low. Estimates from the RIVM showed that 86,461 people were vaccinated against the disease on Wednesday. That put the country on pace to inoculate 688 thousand against the disease this calendar week, below the target of about 730 thousand.

Since vaccinations began, the RIVM thinks that 4,873,624 jabs have been given. Roughly a million of those shots were a person's second shot of a two-dose vaccine.

To date, people have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus 1,435,854 times. The RIVM said it now knows of 17,002 people whose deaths were caused by Covid-19. There is no obligation to file cause of death reports with the agency, but they do need to be filed with Statistics Netherlands. That office said the real death toll is likely thousands above the RIVM figure.