Covid infection average, backlog, weekly hospital increase all on the rise
A total of 58,666 people were diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus between Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the RIVM said. However, the backlog of positive infections not yet included in the Dutch health institute’s database shot up 30 percent to 78,000.
The issue is due to the high number of positive tests being processed by the GGD health service, and their difficulty in logging them and transmitting the data to the RIVM. The backlog has persisted for nine straight days, with the RIVM saying they are still “working hard on solutions to catch up and remedy this backlog.”
The official infections total pushed the seven-day moving average to 55,255. That alone is 55 percent higher compared to a week ago. If all of the missing data had been added to Wednesday’s figures, the seven-day average would be near 66,500, more than double where it was on January 16.
About 46.5 percent of those tested by the GGD between January 18-24 received a positive diagnosis for the coronavirus infection. During that time, 139,364 people were tested daily, on average. That rose by over a third in a week.
The three cities with the most new infections were Amsterdam (4,894), Rotterdam (2,652), and The Hague (2,320). It was a city record for Amsterdam, that brought the capital’s average to 3,769, up 26 percent in a week. Totals in Rotterdam and The Hague were near the cities’ respective averages, which have both shot up in a week.
There were 1,154 people with Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals on Wednesday afternoon, slightly more than a week earlier. It was the first time a weekly increase in patients with the coronavirus disease could be demonstrated since December 13. Still, the hospital situation improved slightly for the first time since the weekend, though the average number of daily hospitalizations is on the rise.
There were 249 patients in intensive care units, a net decrease of three in a day. The figure was the lowest since November 2. The other 905 people were being treated in regular care wards, a net decrease of six.
Hospitals admitted 148 new patients with the disease in the past 24 hours, including 15 sent directly to intensive care units. On average, hospitals admitted 136 Covid-19 patients each of the past seven days. The mean rose by 21 percent in a week, with above-average totals reported seven of the last eight days.