Covid hospital total passes 700 to tie 11-week high; Another 5,700 infections
The number of Covid-19 patients being treated in Dutch hospitals rose for the 15th consecutive day, figures from the LCPS showed. The patient total stood at 703 on Saturday afternoon, tying the current 80-day high set on August 16, after increasing by one percent since Friday.
The patient total increased 29 percent in one week. A similar hike would bring the patient tally above 900 for the first time since the late July peak caused by the fourth wave of infections. The growing pressure in the healthcare sector prompted several hospital leaders to call upon the Cabinet to quickly address the problem, though sources close to the Cabinet said on Friday they have no plans to intervene at this time. The situation could also lead local governments to create their own restrictions, said Ernst Kuipers, a leader in intensive care and the head of the Erasmus Medical Center.
There were 179 people with the coronavirus disease in intensive care on Saturday. That figure increased by five in a day, bringing the ICU total to its highest point in over a month. Another 524 patients were in regular care wards, the same as on Friday.
Hospitals admitted a total of 116 people with Covid-19 during the previous 24 hours, the fourth consecutive day topping one hundred patient admissions. That included 101 patients sent to regular care wards, and 15 sent directly to an ICU. Hospitals admitted 693 patients with the disease just in the past seven days, including a daily average of 82 sent to a regular care ward, and 17 sent to intensive care.
The RIVM registered another 5,719 positive coronavirus tests between Friday and Saturday morning, according to raw data released by the public health agency. That pushed the seven-day moving average up another 10 percent to 4,642. The average has more than doubled in 12 days, including a 51-percent jump just in the past week, an analysis of raw data showed.
That moving average was at its highest point since July 28. A combination of raw and corrected data put the average a little lower, at about 4,617.
About 14.1 percent of people tested by the GGD from October 15 - 21 received the news they were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. A week earlier, the rate was 11.3 percent, and it was 9.3 percent during the seven days prior. Nearly 30 thousand people were tested daily for the infection during the latest weeklong period, a 12 percent increase.
Amsterdam led all cities with the most new infections on Saturday with 285. That pushed the capital’s seven day average up to 199, which has doubled since the start of the month. Rotterdam registered 153 infections, bringing the city’s average up to 138. Another 129 residents of The Hague also tested positive. That city’s average was 101, down slightly from the week prior.
Utrecht also recorded 92 infections, and 79 more were discovered in Almere. The latter was seeing new infections rising to the highest level in two months.
To date, the RIVM has registered a total of 2,076,273 coronavirus infections in the Netherlands.