Covid hospital total nears 1,000; Infection rates continue to fall

There were 1,009 people being treated for Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals on Saturday, down five percent in a day. That brought the total to its lowest point since October 6.

A net decrease of 26 patients brought the intensive care total down to 351, a new eight-month low. The other 658 patients were being treated in regular care wards, a net decrease of 30.

The combined total has fallen by 25 percent in a week. By next week, the hospital total is predicted to sink down to 755 should the trend continue.

In total, 83 people were admitted to Dutch hospitals since Friday afternoon after being diagnosed with the coronavirus disease, including seven who were sent to the ICU. The seven-day average for hospital admissions dropped to 79, 29 percent less than it was one week ago.

Half of all adults in the Netherlands have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said. To date, an estimated 10,277,859 have been given out in the Netherlands, according to an estimate from the RIVM.

An estimated 168,350 Covid-19 vaccine doses were given on Friday. That brought the calendar week’s total up to 920,707, with the country on pace to administer about 1.3 million in total before the week is finished.

The RIVM also announced on Saturday that an additional 2,160 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, bringing the seven-day average down to 2,493 positive coronavirus tests. The seven-day average has fallen 22 percent in the past week to levels not seen since the last week in September.

The cities with the highest new infections were Rotterdam (141), Amsterdam (81) and The Hague (76). People in the Netherlands have tested positive for the coronavirus a total of 1,661,520 times since the outbreak of the coronavirus.