Coronavirus 7-day average falls; Covid vaccinations short of target by 14 pct.

The average number of daily SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus cases in the Netherlands fell for the third straight day, though the percentage in which people tested positive for the infection rose. The Covid-19 vaccination estimate for the last calendar week was also 14 percent below RIVM projections.

Another 6,257 people tested positive for the infection, the RIVM said on Monday. That was the lowest single-day tally since an IT outage caused a brief loss of data 12 days ago. The tally was 23 percent lower compared to Sunday, and 13 percent lower than a week ago.

That brought the seven-day average down to 8,114. Though the average has fallen by nearly three percent since Friday, the figure was still five percent higher compared to a week ago.

The drop could also be explained by a decrease in testing, with about 11 percent of people still testing positive for the infection. Last week, the rate was just over 10 percent. Testing for the virus is often lower from Friday through Sunday compared to mid-week, and this past week was no exception, preliminary data showed.

Hospitals in the Netherlands were also treating two percent more Covid-19 patients on Monday afternoon compared to a day earlier. A total of 2,572 people with the coronavirus disease were being cared for, still about one percent higher than a week ago. The patient total included 1,759 patients in regular care, a net increase of 68, and 813 people in intensive care, a net decrease of 28.

That was the largest fall in the ICU total in a single day since February 5. The decrease was no cause for celebration, said patient coordination office LCPS.

"Hospital occupancy has risen over the past week to the highest level since April last year. Today the occupancy in the ICU has fallen slightly; according to our projections it is possible that this week the occupancy may stabilize around this level," the LCPS wrote in its analysis of the figures.

The RIVM also said that approximately 79,328 people were given a Covid-19 vaccine shot on Sunday. That closed out the calendar week at about 628,812 injections in total, over a hundred thousand shots fewer than projected.

On average, about 90 thousand shots were administered over the past seven days. Since the Covid-19 vaccine program started, 5,207,495 Covid-19 vaccines have been given out, according to the RIVM's latest model.

To date, people have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection 1,467,337 times. The RIVM knows of 17,062 people who have died from Covid-19, though there is no obligation for death reports to be submitted to the agency. Statistics Netherlands believes the total number of fatal Covid-19 cases is far higher.