Dutch Covid infections up 18% this week and rising; Hospitalizations hit 3-week low

The RIVM recorded 17,531 new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands between Saturday and Sunday morning, the most in a single day since December 11. That pushed the seven-day moving average up for the fifth consecutive day. The average reached 14,482 for the calendar week, an increase of over 18 percent compared to the previous week, raw data from the agency showed.

During the last seven days of 2021, roughly 29.6 percent of those tested by the GGD received a positive diagnosis for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. That established a new record high for any one-week period since the start of the pandemic, though testing was not widespread until June 2020. About 47,500 were tested by the GGD each of the last seven days of 2021.

Rotterdam set a new city record with 997 residents testing positive during the 24 hours since Saturday morning. That pushed the city’s average up to 669, a third higher than it was a week ago. In Amsterdam, the city’s average topped one thousand. Some 1,083 residents tested positive according to the latest data, pushing the capital’s average to 1,010, up 37 percent in a week. The Hague also recorded 444 new infections, bringing the average there up to 402, a 9 percent weekly increase.

Dutch hospitals admitted 129 patients with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the lowest total in almost 10 weeks. Seventeen of them were sent directly to an intensive care unit. On average, hospitals admitted 8 percent fewer patients this calendar week compared to the previous week.

New hospitalizations for Covid-19 reached their lowest point in two months. A total of 1,196 people with the coronavirus disease were admitted into care since last Sunday afternoon, with 164 sent directly to an ICU.

There were 1,675 patients with Covid-19 in hospital care on Sunday afternoon, an increase of 15 in a day after accounting for new admissions, discharges, and deaths. That was the first time the hospital total has gone up since Monday. Still, the tally was 16 percent lower compared to a week ago.

The current total includes 475 patients in intensive care units, 13 of whom are in German hospitals. That total rose by three, marking the first ICU daily increase since December 14. The other 1,200 were in regular care wards, a net increase of 12.