Covid ICU patient total rises to two-month high; Coronavirus infections up 3% over last week

The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care rose back up to its highest point since before coronavirus restrictions were relaxed at the end of June, and the Delta variant of the virus spread rapidly through the Netherlands. There were 220 patients with the disease being treated in ICUs on Thursday, the most since June 17.

A day earlier, hospitals had 212 Covid-19 patients in intensive care, according to data from patient coordination office LCPS. Hospitals admitted 14 people with the disease between the afternoons of Wednesday and Thursday, where the seven-day average is 12.

The regular nursing wards at Dutch hospitals were treating another 452 patients for the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection on Thursday, a net decrease of 17 after accounting for new patient admissions, discharges and deaths. The regular care wards took on 54 more Covid-19 patients during the preceding 24 hours, less than the seven-day average of 66.

Both regular care and intensive care combined for 672 currently admitted Covid-19 patients in total, a net decrease of nine after accounting for new patient admissions, discharges and deaths. That was four percent more compared to a week earlier. A similar increase would put the patient total back up at 700 by next Thursday.

Raw data from public health agency RIVM showed that 2,478 people were diagnosed with the infection on average each of the past seven days. The seven-day average was three percent higher compared to exactly one week ago, showing the likelihood that the number of infections being diagnosed on a daily basis was flattening out after steadily falling from 10,160 on July 19. That was the peak recorded during last month’s surge in infections caused by the Delta variant.

Still, the average number of daily coronavirus infections fell by less than one percent on Thursday, but it was after four days of increases. The agency disclosed in raw data that 2,524 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection. A combination of raw and corrected data put the seven-day average at 2,449 where a week earlier that figure was 2,359.

New daily infections in the Netherlands have held within the range of 2,000 and 3,000 since July 31, with the exception of August 5 when over 3,400 cases were recorded.

Almere (85) was the city with the third-highest total of residents testing positive in Thursday’s raw data. The city in Flevoland has seen average daily infections rise by 13 percent over the past week to 62.

Amsterdam held the top spot with 201 infections, pushing the capital’s average to 213, ten percent more than last week. The seven-day average in Rotterdam has gone up 22 percent to 133. Another 162 residents in Rotterdam tested positive, according to the data on Thursday.

To date people in the Netherlands have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus 1,911,699 times.