Covid hospital total falls 18% in a week; 7-day average climbs for 18th day

There were 1,220 people being treated for Covid-19 in hospitals on Saturday afternoon, patient coordinator LCPS said. That total was 18 percent lower compared to a week ago, and was nearly 50 percent lower than patient figures 24 days earlier. A similar 18 percent decrease would bring the total down to one thousand.

There were 322 people in intensive care units on Saturday, 13 fewer than a day earlier after accounting for new admissions, discharges and deaths. One of those patients remained in a German facility. The other 898 patients were in regular care wards in the Netherlands, a net decrease of 56.

Dutch hospitals admitted 138 people with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, 11 of whom were sent directly to intensive care. Hospitals admitted an average of 128 new patients each of the past seven days, 11 percent less than a week ago. Hospitalizations fell to their lowest point since October 28.

The RIVM also confirmed that 31,963 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus between Friday and Saturday morning. That pushed the seven-day moving average up for the 18th consecutive day. It rose 2 percent to 31,821, according to the raw data.

A combination of raw and corrected data put the average at 31,774. That reflects a 37 percent increase in a week. Although that suggests the start of a flattening out of the current surge in infections, the relaxation of some lockdown restrictions on Saturday will likely lead to more personal contact moments.

That can push the number of infections up to between 75,000 and 80,000 per day, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said during a press conference on Friday. “Those are huge numbers,” he acknowledged. However, it still is not clear how many of those infections will lead to hospitalizations for serious symptoms of Covid-19, said Health Minister Ernst Kuipers.

About 34.5 percent of people tested positive when they visited the GGD between January 7-13. An average of 92,800 people were tested each day during that time. The basic reproduction (R) value also jumped up to 1.42, meaning 100 people contagious with the coronavirus infected 142 others, who then passed it on to 202 more people. They then infected 286 more. The R value reflects the situation on December 27.

The three cities with the most new infections were Amsterdam (2,859), The Hague (1,457), and Rotterdam (1,402). The seven-day average in Amsterdam (2,729) and Rotterdam (1,675) jumped up by a third in a week. In The Hague, the mean stood at 1,227, up 79 percent since last Saturday.