Covid ICU total falls below 170; Infections average dips 6 percent

Intensive care units in the Netherlands were treating 168 people with Covid-19 on Thursday afternoon, the lowest total in exactly 17 weeks. A day earlier, the tally stood at 173. The ICU total has dropped off by 18 percent since the start of February, and by 64 percent since January 1.

There were 1,420 other patients with the disease in regular care wards across the country, according to the LCPS. That was 57 lower than Wednesday's total, after accounting for new admissions, discharges, and deaths. Combined with the ICU figures, there were 1,588 patients with Covid-19 in care, about 5 percent more than last Thursday. A similar 5 percent increase would push the total up to 1,675.

Hospitals admitted 177 new Covid-19 patients in the past 24 hours, ten of whom were sent to intensive care. An average of 195 new patients with the disease were admitted on average each of the past seven days. That figure rose by 4 percent in a week.

The RIVM learned of 56,390 new positive coronavirus tests between Wednesday and Thursday morning, the health institute said. That brought the seven-day moving average down 6 percent in a day to 62,885. The average has dropped off by 11 percent just in the past two days.

About 57 percent of those tested by the GGD between February 9-15 received a positive diagnosis for the infection. That was the lowest the positivity rate has been since the last seven days of January. Still, testing figures in the Netherlands have been falling quickly. About 107,500 were tested each day during the most recent seven-day period. That was 22 percent lower than the previous week.

The three cities with the most infections in the latest data were Amsterdam (2,247), Rotterdam (1,579), and Utrecht (1,525). The total in the capital was about 8 percent below average, and Rotterdam's tally was 3.5 percent below average. The daily figure in Utrecht was 7 percent below the city's mean.