Dutch Covid-19 ICU total drops below 750 for first time in 36 days

Hospitals in the Netherlands were treating 748 Covid-19 patients in intensive care on Tuesday, a net decrease of nine. The ICU total has held below 800 for five days, and has dropped to its lowest point since April 5.

Outside of the ICU, another 1,732 people were being treated for the coronavirus disease, a net increase of two. That brought the combined total down to 2,480, the fourth straight day it has been under 2,500. The hospital tally was five percent lower compared to a week ago, and could dip to 2,350 in a week if the trend continues.

Figures from patient coordination office LCPS showed that new hospital admissions have not dropped enough to meet the threshold set by the Outbreak Management Team to justify the second step in reducing lockdown restrictions. On May 2, the OMT said it wanted to see a 20 percent decrease from the daily average of 306.

That daily average fell to 263 on Tuesday, a 16 percent overall decline since May 2, and an 11 percent fall just for the past week. While intensive care admissions have fallen by 20 percent, regular care admissions have dropped by about 10 percent since last Tuesday.

The public health agency also said that another 5,586 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. That brought the moving average down to 6,785, a nine-percent drop from a week ago.

That was the lowest that figure has been since April 8. However, the rate in which people tested positive for the viral infection creeped up past 13 percent for the first time since January, with the number of tests conducted by the GGD continuing its steady two-month decline.

The RIVM said that it estimated 126,259 people were given a Covid-19 vaccine injection on Monday. That brought the seven-day average up to 118,718. A more complete overview of the vaccination program in the Netherlands was due to be released late Tuesday afternoon.

A total of 6,588,757 vaccinations have been administered, the RIVM said.