Dutch Covid hospitalizations hit one month high; Coronavirus average tops 2,600

Dutch hospitals admitted the highest number of Covid-19 patients in a single day since July 29, according to new data from patient coordination office LCPS. The hospital system admitted 100 patients with the coronavirus disease between the afternoons of Friday and Saturday, including 22 who were sent straight to the ICU, the highest number in three weeks.

Over the past seven days, the ICU system admitted 111 new patients for treatment of Covid-19, a 17 percent increase versus the previous period. An additional 442 people were initially entered into regular care wards, about one percent higher.

Despite the high volume of patient admissions, the number of Covid-19 patients currently in treatment fell for the third time in four days. There were 645 people being treated for the coronavirus disease in Dutch hospitals on Saturday afternoon. That was down two percent from Friday, after accounting for new patient admissions, discharges and deaths.

The LCPS said that 224 of them were in intensive care units, a net increase of two. That tied the third highest figure over the past 10 weeks. The other 421 patients were in regular care wards, a net decrease of 16 since Friday.

Combined, the patient total was also two percent lower compared to a week earlier. A similar decrease would put the tally at 634 by next Saturday.

Raw data from the RIVM showed that an average of 2,613 people have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus each of the past seven days. That figure rose by eight percent during that time, according to the national public health institute’s figures. A combination of raw and corrected data put the seven-day average at 2,586.

The increase is largely attributable to an increase in testing, with nine percent more having scheduled their own coronavirus tests with the GGD the last seven days compared to a week prior. During that time, the positivity rate rose slightly from 14.1 to 14.2 percent, according to preliminary data. More concrete figures are released by the RIVM on Tuesday afternoons.

The RIVM raw data showed that 2,494 people were diagnosed with the infection between Friday and Saturday morning, about three percent more than a week earlier. The current figure included 173 residents of Rotterdam, 163 people in Amsterdam, and 148 who live in The Hague.

Rotterdam’s tally was 17 percent above average, and the data from Amsterdam was about 25 percent below the city’s moving average. In The Hague, the number of newly infected residents was 30 percent higher than this week’s norm.

The seven-day average in Rotterdam has gone up 14 percent this week, and it rose 18 percent in The Hague.

People in the Netherlands have tested positive for the viral infection 1,934,283 times since the start of the pandemic.