Some improvement in Dutch coronavirus risk levels as infections fall

Fourteen of the 25 Dutch security regions remained at the highest risk level for the outbreak of the coronavirus. The situation in those regions is “Severe”. This rating is due to the high number of hospital admissions. If the domestic risk assessment was only based on the number of positive coronavirus tests, the condition would not have been considered Severe anywhere.

The government sets risk levels every Wednesday based on the number of positive tests and the number of hospital admissions. The higher of the two numbers is the deciding factor. There are four levels. From lowest to highest, these are Caution, Concern, Serious and Severe.

The risk level “Severe” applies in Amsterdam-Amstelland, Rotterdam-Rijnmond, Haaglanden, Utrecht, Brabant-Zuidoost, Groningen, Twente, Flevoland, Zaanstreek-Waterland, Kennemerland, Gooi en Vechtstreek, Hollands Midden, Zuid-Holland Zuid and Zuid-Limburg.

Nine regions are one step lower, at Serious. These are Friesland, IJsselland, Noord en Oost Gelderland, Gelderland-Midden, Gelderland-Zuid, Noord Holland Noord, Midden en West Brabant, Brabant-Noord and Limburg-Noord.

Zeeland went from Severe to Concern in one fell swoop, a drop of two steps. The other security region at the second lowest level is Drenthe. That province was on Serious last week. Nowhere does the lowest risk level apply.

Last week, ten regions were rated severe and 15 were very serious. In comparison with that map, IJsselland, Noord Holland Noord, Midden en West Brabant and Brabant Noord have gone from very serious to serious. Haaglanden, Twente, Flevoland and Zuid-Holland Zuid went one step up, from serious to very serious.

The largest flare-up in the country is Amsterdam-Amstelland. Last week, the coronavirus was diagnosed in 188 out of every 100,000 people in and around the capital, but a few weeks ago it was 914 per 100,000. That is a decrease of about 80 percent. The province of Groningen went from 536 to 105 positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants in a few weeks, making it one of the quietest parts of the country in terms of infection rates.

The most hospital admissions per capita were in Flevoland. The province last week had 75.6 hospitalizations for every one million inhabitants. This is followed by Rotterdam-Rijnmond (65.7), Amsterdam-Amstelland (65.4), Gooi en Vechtstreek (50.6) and ZuidLimburg (50.2). Conversely, the regions of Drenthe, Gelderland-Midden and IJsselland have the lowest number of hospital admissions.