Over 23,000 new coronavirus infections; Covid hospital total rises to 2,430

A total of 23,066 people were diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus between Sunday and Monday morning. Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 patients has gone up by another 114 to 2,430, putting the figure on pace to reach 3,000 for the first time since the first wave of infections during the Spring of 2020.

That was second only to the record of 23,680 set on Thursday. The new figure pushed the seven-day moving average up three percent to a new record high of 21,645.

The average was 49 percent higher compared to a week earlier. A combination of corrected and raw data put the average at 21,599. The figure has increased for 53 consecutive days.

Politicians had hoped that the impact of the coronavirus measures introduced on November 13 would have been visible by Monday. As such, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge spoke earlier in the day about the possibility of stricter coronavirus restrictions being introduced if the situation does not improve by the end of the week. The policy was supposed to be evaluated on December 3, but a press conference could be held sooner to announce new measures.

During the period of November 14 - 20, about 22 percent of people tested by the GGD were diagnosed with the coronavirus infection, also a record. The health service tested just under 89,000 people on average each of those seven days, eclipsing the high mark set in March.

The three cities with the most new infections were Amsterdam (813), Rotterdam (666), and The Hague (527). None of the three were dramatically different from their respective seven-day averages. Four other cities also had over three hundred infections, Utrecht (446), Den Bosch (319), Almere (306), and Eindhoven (302).

The number of patients being treated for Covid-19 rose by another five percent to 2,430 since Sunday afternoon. The hospitalized patient total on Monday reflected a 22 percent increase in a week. A similar rise would put the total near 3,000 for the first time in over a year and a half.

The current patient total includes 1,960 people being treated in regular care wards, a net increase of 110 after accounting for new admissions, discharges, and deaths. That was the highest total in the non-acute wards since January 7.

Another 470 patients with the coronavirus disease were being treated in intensive care units. That was four more than on Sunday, which put the ICU figure to its highest point since the end of May. Of the 288 patients admitted to hospitals in the past 24 hours, 34 were sent to intensive care.

Hospitals admitted a total of 2,138 people with Covid-19 during the past seven days. That was 29 percent higher compared to the previous week. Out of that total, 277 were sent directly to an ICU, an increase of over 36 percent.