New Covid hospitalizations hit highest point in 16 days; Average infections doubled in a week

Hospitals in the Netherlands admitted 161 new Covid-19 patients between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. It was the highest total since January 11.

The average number of daily hospitalizations related to the disease has been on an upward trend since January 18. Some 138 patients were admitted on average each of the past seven days, up 17 percent in a week to its highest point since January 11.

There were 233 people with the disease in intensive care units on Thursday, the lowest total since the end of October. The total fell by 16 in a day, even after accounting for 11 new ICU admissions. The regular care wards were treating 898 others, including 150 new admissions. After discharges and deaths, the currently admitted total was seven fewer than a day earlier.

The combined total of 1,131 patients rose by about 1 percent in a week, reversing a six-week downward trend. A similar increase would push the total up to about 1,140.

The LCPS believes the number of admissions could continue to rise with coronavirus infection rates at a record high due to the Omicron variant. Hospitalizations are less likely to occur when someone is infected with the variant, and ICU visits are cut by almost half, according to early research. But the number of infections jumped so high so fast that data from the past ten days about the number of positive coronavirus tests has not been accurately logged by the RIVM and the GGD.

On Thursday, the RIVM said that 64,602 people were confirmed to have received a positive diagnosis for the coronavirus. That pushed the seven-day moving average up higher for the 30th consecutive day. The official average stood at 58,773, a 61 percent increase in a week, and more than double the total on January 11.

It was not immediately clear how many people actually received a positive diagnosis. As of Wednesday, the recent positive test results of about 78,000 people had not been logged by the RIVM due to overwhelmed IT systems at the health institute and the GGD. The RIVM did not comment if the situation improved or worsened by the following day.

If that missing data were added to Thursday’s data, the seven-day average would be near 70,000, almost double where it was a week earlier. Even without the missing data, infections over the past week topped 400,000 for the first time since the pandemic started two years ago.

A record 47.4 percent of people tested by the GGD between January 19-25 received a positive diagnosis for the SARS-CoV-2. Roughly 142,000 were tested each day during that period, also a new record.

The three cities with the most new infections reported on Thursday were Amsterdam (2,841), Eindhoven (2,009), and Rotterdam (1,888). All three were wildly different from their moving averages, likely due to the backlog of data.