Dutch coronavirus positivity rate edges towards 15%; Over 3,400 travelers test positive
The percentage of people who tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the Netherlands rose for the second straight week to the highest point in a month. Approximately 14.6 percent of those tested during the week ending Tuesday at 10 a.m. were diagnosed with the infection, a substantial rise from 12.9 percent during the previous week.
The ongoing Delta variant wave of infections in the Netherlands also coincided with the Dutch government’s decision to release nearly all coronavirus restrictions at the end of June. A handful of restrictions were put back in place in the second week of July.
By the week ending July 20, an estimated 15.4 percent of people who scheduled their own coronavirus test with the GGD tested positive for the infection, according to corrected data from the RIVM. The positivity rate has risen from a low point in early August of 12.3 percent. During that same period, the weeks-long decline in weekly coronavirus infections has continued to slow.
There was an eight percent fall in diagnosed coronavirus infections last week, bringing the total down to 16,564. That was an improvement from just over 18 thousand a week earlier. It brought the number of per capita infections down to 98 per 100 thousand inhabitants. During the Delta wave peak, the total was almost 400 per capita, meaning infections have dropped off by 75 percent in four weeks.
About 100 people contagious with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infected 92 others according to the latest data from the RIVM model, which was considered accurate through August 2. That put the basic reproduction (R) value at 0.92, up from 0.79 on July 26. It is another sign that the improvement in coronavirus figures is flattening out.
When the R number is set at 0.92, it means that 100 infect 92 more, who then infect 85 others, and then they pass the virus to another 78 people.
Travel-related infections continue to rise
Roughly 12,116 people who tested positive with the GGD last week shared information about whether or not they recently traveled abroad. Some 3,415 of them said they had been in another country less than 14 days before their diagnosis. That was about six percent higher compared to the week earlier.
There were 11 countries visited where over 100 people returned with the coronavirus infection. The top destinations were Spain (492), Greece (478), France (379), Turkey (364) and Morocco (281).
The other destinations linked to a significant number of infections were Croatia (262), Italy (214), Germany (208), Belgium (188), Austria (124) and Hungary (115).
About 28 percent of those who tested positive and disclosed their travel history had been abroad recently. That was up from less than 24 percent a week earlier.
Covid-19 hospitalizations down six percent; ICU admissions fall by over a fourth
Covid-19 hospitalizations continued to improve for another week, the RIVM said. There was a six percent fall in the number of patients admitted with the disease during the past week, which brought hospitalizations down to 408.
Out of that group, 90 people were sent straight to intensive care units, down from 121 the previous week. That reflected a decrease in new ICU patients of 26 percent.
The total number of patients sent to regular care and intensive care were at their lowest point since the week ending July 20.
The RIVM also said it was notified that 42 people with the coronavirus disease died from Covid-19 last week, down from 46 the previous week. There is no obligation to immediately report Covid-19 deaths to the RIVM.
Since the start of the pandemic, the agency has learned of 17,920 deaths caused by Covid-19. Combined with figures from the country’s national statistics bureau, CBS, the number of Covid-19 deaths is closer to 30 thousand.
All told, people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 infection 1,906,434 times.