Dutch coronavirus positivity rate at lowest point since Delta variant wave
Despite the apparent rise in coronavirus infections among school-aged children, the dramatic 25% increase in coronavirus testing last week helped bring the positivity rate to its lowest point since the start of the Delta variant surge. An estimated 10.8 percent of those tested the past seven days were diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, down from 13.1 percent the previous period, according to the weekly report from the RIVM.
The rate itself peaked up to 18.7 percent on July 8 as the Delta variant of the coronavirus gripped the Netherlands. As a seven-day average, the positivity rate ranged from 11.7 to 16.7 percent in the weeks since. The possible trend back down could be supported by the fall in the basic reproduction (R) value, which dipped down to 0.98 on August 23. That indicates that 100 contagious people infected 98 others.
Some 17,890 new coronavirus infections were diagnosed in The Netherlands during the seven-day period which ended on Tuesday at 10 a.m. That was about two percent higher than the previous period, which brought per capita infections up to 104 per 100,000 inhabitants. Over 155 thousand people were tested for the coronavirus, up from over 124 thousand for the week ending August 31.
At least 2,479 people recently traveled internationally before testing positive for coronavirus. That was about 28 percent fewer than outlined in last week's report, with most primary and secondary schools having started up last week, and all education programs including vocational and higher education back in session from September 6.
About 14% of those who tested positive during the past seven days confirmed that they traveled abroad at some point in the two weeks prior to their coronavirus test. The top destinations visited were Turkey (659), Morocco (237) and Germany (235). Over a hundred people also returned from Spain (217), France (188), Belgium (152) and Croatia (105).
The previous week also had Turkey at the top of the chart, followed by Spain and Morocco. Like last week, about 4,600 of those who tested positive for coronavirus exercised their privacy rights, and were unwilling to share whether or not they had traveled at all.
Patient coordinator LCPS showed a five percent fall in hospitalisations for the disease, but a 19 percent drop in ICU admissions. Data from that organisation stated that 511 patients were admitted for treatment of the disease, with 85 sent directly to intensive care.
By comparison, figures from NICE showed that the number of hospitalisations for Covid-19 fell by nine percent last week to 388, though that figure will likely be revised up to some extent like in previous weekly reporting. It also showed 88 ICU admissions, roughly ten percent lower than a week ago.
The RIVM said it learned of 38 Covid-19 deaths, down from 43 the previous period.
People have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection a total of 1,958,804 times.