Dutch daily coronavirus average tops 80,000 to set new record; Hospital figures improve
Even with a data backlog that has led to underreporting of coronavirus infections during the past three weeks, the average number of daily infections reported by the Netherlands set a new record on Sunday. The seven-day moving average rose to 80,195, besting the previous record set on Thursday by about 600.
However, the RIVM also said that 186,000 infections diagnosed since January 17 have not been entered into the health institute’s database. That figure grew by 10,000 in a day. People tested by the GGD municipal health services are being given a positive diagnosis for the infection far more often than a negative result, leading to the backlog.
The RIVM registered 80,946 positive infections between Saturday and Sunday morning. That pushed the average up to its current point, which was 30 percent higher compared to a week ago, when it stood at 75,199.
The most recent data from the RIVM showed that 61.1 percent of those tested by the GGD received a positive result during the seven-day period ending on Thursday. Just over a million people were tested during that time.
Rotterdam led all cities with the most new infections in the recent data, 5,576 in total. That was followed by Amsterdam (5,250), and The Hague (2,839).
Hospital figures were largely better compared to Saturday, according to the LCPS. Dutch hospitals were treating 1,344 people with Covid-19 on Sunday, 19 fewer than a day earlier. The hospital total was still about 16 percent higher compared to a week ago.
The improvement was led by the intensive care units, which were treating 211 people with the disease, down from 229, after accounting for new admissions, discharges, and deaths. The regular care wards were treating 1,133 others, a net decrease of one.
Hospitals admitted 134 Covid-19 patients in the past 24 hours, the lowest single-day total since January 23. Thirteen of them were sent directly to an intensive care unit. On average, hospitals admitted 192 patients with the coronavirus disease each of the past seven days, about 23 percent more than the previous seven-day period.