Coronavirus infection average up over 8,350; Covid vaccinations fall further

For the second day in a row, over nine thousand more coronavirus infections were reported by public health agency RIVM. It was also the third straight day where the estimated number of Covid-19 vaccinations administered in the Netherlands showed a significant decrease.

Another 9,292 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the RIVM said on Friday. That total was down a few hundred from Thursday, but it was four percent higher compared to a week ago.

That pushed the seven-day moving average up to 8,352. It was the ninth day straight that the increase edged up, and was now nearly as high as it was on January 4. Already this week, 41,528 people tested positive for the infection, up 13 percent compared to the same period last week.

Vaccination figures dropping steadily this week

The Ministry of Health also estimated that 79,100 people were given a Covid-19 vaccine shot on Thursday. That figure was 21 percent below the moving average. It was the lowest single-day total reported since April 11, when the RIVM modified its method for estimating daily vaccine doses administered.

After three straight daily decreases in vaccinations, an estimated 374,041 people received a vaccine shot this week. That was just over halfway past this calendar week's target of 730 thousand.

With figures often lower over the weekend, it was becoming increasingly unlikely the target was becoming less likely to be reached.

Hospital total falls, but ICU Covid total near one-year high

While fears have been rising about the increased pressure that hospitals in the Netherlands were facing due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Covid-19 patient total showed its most significant net decrease in over three weeks.

There were 2,613 people being treated for Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals on Friday afternoon, down three percent in a day. Most of that decrease was demonstrated in non-acute care departments, which were treating 1,776 of the patients, a net decline of 67.

The country's intensive care units were treating 837 Covid-19 patients, a net decrease of two. The ICU tally has held above 800 for a week, and has been above 700 for three weeks. Intensive care experts raised concerns on Thursday and Friday that soon hospitals would no longer have space for everyone seriously afflicted by the disease, and would be faced with deciding which patients should get access to the last remaining ICU spaces.

Since the pandemic began, people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 infection 1,445,064 times. That includes 17,016 people who died from Covid-19, according to the RIVM, though stats office CBS said the figure was likely far higher.