Dutch coronavirus avg. up 8-fold since June 30; Amsterdam sets record with over 1,300 in a day
Another 9,398 coronavirus infections were reported in the Netherlands on Sunday by public health agency RIVM. The agency has reported nearly 20 thousand infections just this weekend, more than double the number of positive tests reported for all of last week.
The rate in which people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection has shot up to 11.8 percent on average during the past week. It was just 4.5 percent on Tuesday.
The daily tally pushed the seven-day average up to 5,670, the highest it has been in nearly two months. That average was eight times higher than it was on June 30, the lowest level as the third wave of infections subsided.
Amsterdam residents alone accounted for 1,339 of the newest infections, more than double its moving average of 680. It by far represented the most infections out of any municipality, and the Amsterdam-Amstelland region is one of only two expected to be classified at the “Very Serious” risk level by the RIVM, the worst of four risk categories.
The capital’s total shattered the record for most infections reported in the city on any given day. The new record was 50 percent higher than the previous record, set just a day earlier at 897.
The map will be updated on Tuesday. When it is, the Groningen region will likely also be at the 'very Serious' level. The city in the province accounted for 538 new infections on Sunday, bringing its average up to 307.
Rotterdam also reported 556 more infections, which brought that city’s average up to 402. Figures in Utrecht were also cause for concern, with 479 cases there, though that was about 40 percent lower than on Saturday.
The number of infections reported by the RIVM on Sunday and Monday are frequently lower than the rest of the week due to weekend staffing levels, test capacity and people delaying their own coronavirus test until the workweek starts. The GGD performed about 45 thousand coronavirus tests daily over the past seven days, close to double last week’s figures.
Around 169,554 people were vaccinated against Covid-19 on Saturday, based on an estimate by the Ministry of Health. That means just under 1.1 million shots have been given this calendar week, suggesting the ministry will fall short of its estimate by about nine percent.
There have been very clear signs that vaccination progress in the Netherlands is slowing down. An average of 171,109 jabs were given on each of the past seven days, a third lower compared to a month ago when that figure was 252,045.
In total, around 17,794,737 doses of a Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the Netherlands since the start of the vaccination campaign. The 18 millionth vaccine will likely be given on Monday.
Preliminary figures from the LCPS on Sunday showed that there were 206 Covid-19 patients in hospital. In the ICU, there were 88 Covid-19 patients and the remaining 118 patients were stationed in the regular hospital ward.
The early data showed little fluctuation from hospital occupancy figures on Friday, when the combined patient total was the same, but included 86 ICU patients.
More complete hospital data will be released by the LCPS on Monday. Last month, the organization suspended weekend reporting and will resume comprehensive daily operations if Covid-19 hospitalizations begin to rise again.