7-day coronavirus average falls for third day straight

Testing for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has been on the rise for two weeks after hitting a one-year low. While the number of people self-reporting for a coronavirus test has gone up, the rate in which they test positive stabilized and then started to fall in recent days.

The result is that the seven-day moving average for daily coronavirus infections has gone down for three days in a row. The figure fell each day by one percent according to raw data from the RIVM. It stood at 2,538 on Tuesday, which was still about two percent higher than a week earlier.

Some 2,349 people were confirmed to have tested positive for the infection during the 24 hour period ending Tuesday at 10 a.m. Daily infections have almost entirely remained between 2,000 and 3,000 since July 31. A combination of raw and corrected data put the seven-day average at 2,511.

The three cities with the most new infections in the new dataset were Amsterdam (168), The Hague (138) and Rotterdam (104). Four consecutive days of reduced infection totals brought the seven-day average in the capital down to 200, about 11 percent lower versus last week. The average in Rotterdam stood 10 percent higher at 147, with The Hague's mean at 123, an 18 percent increase.

There were 671 people being treated for Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals on Tuesday afternoon, a 3 percent reduction since Monday. Patient coordination office LCPS said that 212 of the patients were in an intensive care unit, a net decrease of eight after accounting for new admissions, discharges and deaths. The other 459 people were in regular care wards, a net decrease of ten.

Combined, the hospital total was 3 percent lower compared to a week ago. A similar reduction would bring the total down towards 650.

Hospitals admitted 73 patients for Covid-19 during the past 24 hours, including eight who were sent straight to an ICU. The ICU figure was the lowest in about five weeks.

Hospitals took on an average of 76 patients each of the past seven days, including 15 ICU admits. Both figures were nearly the same a week ago.