Covid hospital total doubled in two weeks to 1,312; Over 7,700 new infections
Hospitals in the Netherlands were treating 1,312 people with Covid-19 on Tuesday afternoon, more than double the total on October 20, and three times the amount reported at the start of October. The tally rose by 8 percent in a day, according to figures from patient monitor LCPS, and has increased by 55 percent in a week. A similar increase would lead to over 2,025 Covid-19 patients in admitted care.
The current total reflected a net increase of 100 patients since Monday, the largest single-day increase since April 20. There were 1,072 patients with the disease in regular care wards, up 96 after accounting for new admissions, discharges and deaths. That put the regular care tally to its highest level since May 26. The other 240 patients were in intensive care, a net increase of four that put the ICU figure to a high point not seen since mid-June.
The last time hospitals had over 1,300 Covid-19 patients in care was on May 31.
During the preceding 24 hours, some 231 patients with the disease were admitted by hospitals, by far the most in nearly a half-year. That included 22 people sent directly to an ICU. On average, hospitals admitted 165 patients with Covid-19 each of the past seven days, a 45 percent increase compared to a week earlier. That includes 18 daily ICU admissions, just slightly higher than a week ago.
The RIVM also said that it recorded another 7,761 positive coronavirus tests between Monday and Tuesday morning. That pushed the seven-day average up 4 percent to 7,740, based solely on raw data. A combination of raw and corrected data placed the figure closer to 7,711, a 39 percent increase in a week.
About 16.7 percent of those tested by the GGD during the weeklong period ending October 31 received a positive diagnosis. That was the highest in almost a year, when the Netherlands was struggling to handle the second wave of infections.
The three cities with the most new infections reported on Tuesday were Amsterdam (322), Rotterdam (190), and The Hague (162), also the three largest municipalities in the country. They were followed by Ede (116). The city of fewer than 77,000 residents has seen a rapid surge in infections the past week.
Utrecht also had 112 infections, similar to Sittard Geleen, which had 103 residents test positive. While Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands, Sittard Geleen is home to about 92,000 people.
The RIVM has registered 2,147,473 positive coronavirus tests since the start of the pandemic.
