Covid patient total up for 19th day, but hospitalizations tapering off; Infections fall further
The total number of Covid-19 patients in hospital rose for the 19th day in a row on Sunday. At the same time, the number of new patient admissions fell to a ten-day low.
There were 683 patients with Covid-19 being treated in Dutch hospitals on Sunday, an increase of 16 patients compared to Saturday after taking into account admissions, discharges and deaths. The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients has increased 28 percent compared to last week. A repeat of that trend would lead to 877 Covid-19 patients in Dutch hospitals by the end of next week.
The current hospital total included 187 patients in intensive care units, a net increase of six that brought the ICU total up to its highest point since June 21. The other 496 patients were in regular care wards, a net increase of ten compared to Saturday’s total.
The patient coordination center, LCPS, reported that 81 new Covid-19 patients were admitted into care between Saturday and Sunday afternoon. That was the lowest since July 22, a sign that the surge in Covid-19 hospitalizations was on its way down as new coronavirus infections continued a steady decline.
Of the new Covid-19 patients that were hospitalized in the past 24 hours, 62 were sent to the regular hospital wards and 19 to the ICU.
The number of people who tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been falling steadily for over two weeks, with the RIVM saying on Sunday that 2,350 additional positive tests for the infection were reported by the health agency. The seven-day-moving was brought down to 3,539 new infections, the lowest since July 9.
The moving average has dropped for 13 straight days, according to the preliminary data from the RIVM. The cities with the highest number of new infections reported on Sunday were Amsterdam (198), Rotterdam (105) and The Hague (87). Amsterdam’s total was 40 percent below average, Rotterdam was 60 percent below its daily average, and The Hague posted a total of 25 percent below its average.
The Netherland will likely remain red on the European coronavirus risk map for at least one more week. Noord-Holland was expected to be the only region to remain at the dark red level. The region had more than 500 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past 14 days, the threshold for the European Union’s highest risk level.
People in the Netherlands tested positive for the coronavirus a total of 1,867,815 times since the start of the pandemic