Average daily coronavirus infections rise for 25th day to top 6,500

Over 7,000 coronavirus infections were reported in the Netherlands for the third day in a row, which pushed the seven-day moving average higher for the 25th consecutive day. The average, based solely on raw data from the RIVM, stood at 6,521 on Friday. It was 54 percent higher compared to the previous week, and over 300 percent higher than the start of the month.

The RIVM showed 7,439 new infections of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in its raw data update on Friday. The country's health institute has disclosed about 33,500 infections just since the start of the week, the most since the third week of July. An average of 16 percent of those tested by the GGD during the past seven days were given the positive diagnosis, the most since the July peak of the Delta variant wave.

The data was released shortly after it emerged that over a thousand people with Covid-19 were being treated in Dutch hospitals, the most since early June. Members of the Cabinet met with pandemic advisors on Friday to discuss possible changes to coronavirus policy in the Netherlands. No decisions were made at the meeting as of 2:30 p.m., according to newswire ANP. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge are expected to update the country during a press conference on Tuesday evening.

The coronavirus infection has continued to spread at a rapid rate in the Netherlands. The basic reproduction (R) number of the virus was updated on Friday to 1.26, meaning 100 people contagious with the virus were likely to infect 126 others. They will then spread the infection to 159 people, who in turn infect 200 more. The number of infections will continue to rise as long as the R number is above 1.00. The current figure of 1.26 is effective for October 14, as two weeks of data is needed to produce an accurate figure, according to the RIVM.

The three cities with the most new infections reported on Friday were Amsterdam (252), Rotterdam (229), and The Hague (165). The capital's moving average stood at 263, Rotterdam's reached 197, and in The Hague it was 153. All three were about 50 percent higher than a week earlier.

A total of 2,108,549 positive coronavirus tests have been recorded since the start of the pandemic.