Netherlands breaks records as over 19,200 more coronavirus infections disclosed; Over 19% test positive on average

The RIVM recorded 19,274 new coronavirus infections between Sunday and Monday morning, beating a record set last Thursday by nearly 3,000. The figure was revealed in an update of raw data that also included information missing from the reports on Saturday and Sunday due to a telecommunications error at the GGD health service.

Still, the new total pushed the seven-day moving average up 8 percent to 14,563, the fifth consecutive day that a new record has been set. The average was measured using raw data released by the Dutch public health institute. It has gone up by 39 percent in a week. A combination of raw and corrected data put the average at 14,527 after 46 straight daily increases.

Nearly one in five people tested by the GGD received a positive diagnosis during the November 7-13 period. The average figure was 19.2 percent, breaking a record of 18.5 percent set in October 2020. Roughly 21.9 percent of those whose results were recorded on Saturday, November 13, found out they were infected with the coronavirus, a single-day record.

Amsterdam recorded a whopping 925 new infections in the new data released on Monday, nearly double its weekly average. That was followed by Rotterdam (468), The Hague (428), Tilburg (305) and Utrecht (304). A total of 39 municipalities reported 100 new infections or more.

Hospitals in the Netherlands were also treating 1,985 people for Covid-19, an increase of 122 since Sunday afternoon. That seven-percent hike put the total at its highest point since May 19, and includes new admissions, discharges, and deaths. The number of patients has gone up by over a quarter in a week. A similar increase would put the total at over 2,500.

"And the peak in the curve has not yet been reached; We are expected to continue to climb," said intensive care leader Ernst Kuipers during a committee meeting at the Tweede Kamer on Monday. "In a week we will be at 2,600 people. A few days later we will pass the highest peak of last winter, about 2,800 people. And the increase has not yet ended."

The latest patient figures include 1,605 in regular care wards, a net increase of 119. The other 380 were in intensive care units, a net increase of three. Hospitals admitted 244 Covid-19 patients between Sunday and Monday afternoon, with 26 sent directly to the ICU.

Hospitals admitted 1,660 people with the disease over the past seven days. That was 20 percent higher compared to a week earlier, when the total number of admissions was 1,388. Intensive care admissions was roughly level, with 203 patients sent directly to an ICU the previous seven days, compared to 195 during the earlier period.

Kuipers said that a previous model suggested the Netherlands would peak with Covid-19 hospital admissions in January at a maximum of about 150 new patients per day. "We are already at 250 admissions per day. I cannot dare to say where we are headed."

That earlier model also suggested a peak number of 1,500 Covid-19 patients in care at one moment in January. "It is mid-November and we are already at 2,000."