Covid ICU patient total below 200 for first time in 15 weeks
Hospitals in the Netherlands were treating fewer than 200 Covid-19 patients for the first time since October 26. Even after accounting for new patient admissions, the ICU total on Thursday stood at 198, compared to 206 the previous day.
At the end of September, the government released a large number of restrictions that led to an immediate surge in the number of coronavirus infections. Hospitalizations started to rise steadily a week later, and intensive care figures marched upwards from mid-October. At its peak, there were 662 Covid-19 patients in intensive care on December 12.
That figure steadily declined for months. It fluctuated between 205 and 250 for the past two weeks, until it dipped below 200 on Thursday, according to data from the LCPS.
An additional 1,315 patients were being treated in regular care wards on Thursday afternoon, a net decrease of ten compared to the previous day. That put the total number of hospitalized patients with Covid-19 at 1,513. That figure was about 9 percent higher compared to a week earlier.
Hospitals admitted 210 patients with the disease in the past 24 hours, including 13 sent to intensive care. That put the seven-day average at 188, the same as a week earlier. The LCPS includes patients in their figures who tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but who may not require treatment for Covid-19 symptoms, as putting patients in isolation also places more demands on hospital staff.
Meanwhile, the RIVM said that 86,882 people tested positive for the coronavirus between Wednesday and Thursday morning. Over the past nine days, an average of 86,933 positive tests were recorded by the RIVM on a daily basis.
The most recent data shows that over 60 percent of people tested by the GGD during the first week of February received a positive diagnosis for the infection. Around 140,150 were tested each day between February 2-7.
The three cities with the most new infections in the latest data were Amsterdam (3,585), Rotterdam (2,323), and The Hague (2,294).