Covid hospital total, coronavirus infections near 3-month low
The Covid-19 patient total in the Netherlands and the average number of daily coronavirus infections both fell to levels not seen since the last week of February. The country has also administered its eight millionth Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday, as expected.
There were 1,822 people being treated for Covid-19 in the country's hospitals on Friday afternoon, a net decrease of four percent which brought the figure to its lowest point since February 27. The hospitals were treating 19 percent fewer patients compared to seven days ago. If that continues, there will be fewer than 1,500 Covid-19 patients in care next week.
The new total included 608 patients in intensive care, a two-month low, after a net decrease of 13 patients since Thursday. There were another 1,214 Covid-19 patients outside of the acute care wards, down 64 in a day.
New hospitalizations for the coronavirus disease also dropped to its lowest point since February 10. Some 159 new patients with the disease were admitted into care between the afternoons of Thursday and Friday, bringing the moving average down to 185.
The RIVM also said that another 4,219 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection. That brought the seven-day average down to 4,405, the lowest average since February 23. The moving average was 30 percent lower compared to a week ago.
However, coronavirus testing at the GGD municipal health services remained near a three-month low. At the same time, there were preliminary indications that 11.5 percent of people over the past week tested positive for the viral infection, possibly indicating a second consecutive decline.
The Ministry of Health also confirmed that over eight million Covid-19 vaccines have been given out to date, based on an estimate from the RIVM. The data showed that 141,693 people received a vaccine shot on Thursday, which pulled the daily average down to 145,422.
The Netherlands has vaccinated an estimated 583,437 since Monday, and remained on pace to administer over a million in a single calendar week for the first time ever. The vaccination total stood at 8,040,730.
To date, people have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 infection 1,619,648 times.