Dutch Covid 7-day average hits new record as 28,000 more test positive

The Netherlands established a new all-time record for average daily coronavirus infections on Saturday. The RIVM said that 28,003 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus between Friday and Saturday morning. That was lower than the record of almost 35,000 reported on Friday, which also included several thousand positive tests that were missing from the data update a day earlier.

That pushed the seven-day moving average up another 8 percent to 23,288, according to raw data from the RIVM. That beat the previous record of 22,543 set on November 28.

A combination of raw and corrected data put the average at 23,245. That was 70 percent higher than a week ago. The average has nearly doubled after hitting a low point on December 28. 

A record 35.3 percent of people tested positive at the GGD between December 31 and January 6. During that time, 66,500 people were tested at a GGD location each day on average.

In the latest data update from the RIVM, a total of 2,544 Amsterdammers tested positive for the coronavirus, which pushed the seven-day average in the capital to a record high 2,063. The average has gone up by 110 percent in a week. Another 1,579 people tested positive in Rotterdam, bringing that city’s average up to 1,266, also more than double the value a week ago.

The Hague set a new municipal record with 1,083 new infections. That brought the city’s mean up to 685, about 78% higher in week. Utrecht also continued to report a high number of infections, with 840 on Saturday.

The recent surge over the past ten days has not yet translated to an increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations. There were 1,490 patients with the coronavirus disease in hospitals on Saturday afternoon, 36 fewer than a week ago, after accounting for new admissions, discharges and deaths. The hospital total has fallen 10 percent in a week, and by nearly half in a month.

There were 414 people in intensive care units, five fewer than on Friday. The ICU figure includes nine patients in German hospitals. The other 1,076 patients were in regular care units, a net decrease of 31.

Dutch hospitals admitted 165 patients with the disease in the past 24 hours, including 16 sent directly to an intensive care unit. On average, 144 patients were admitted each of the past seven days, 17 percent fewer than a week ago.