Covid infections up by half in a week with 69% testing positive; Many infections in Carnival regions

Raw data from the RIVM showed that 374,605 people were diagnosed with coronavirus infections this past week, an increase of 49 percent compared to the previous week. Infections have been rising rapidly ever since the government released the remaining coronavirus restrictions in the country nine days ago.

Some 66,794 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus between Saturday and Sunday morning, the third straight day the figure has been between 65,000 and 70,000.

That pushed the seven-day moving average up 12 percent in a day to 53,515, according to raw data. A combination of raw and corrected data from earlier in the week put the figure at 53,501.

A record 69.2 percent of tests carried out by the GGD between Feb. 26 and Mar. 4 were positive, the data showed. Approximately 71,400 people were tested each day that period, up from 57,300 the previous week.

The new round of data showed a high number of infections in areas where Carnival was celebrated at the end of February. Roughly one-fourth of all infections in the past 24 hours, just under 19,000, were diagnosed among residents of Noord-Brabant. Over 9,000 more cases were found in people living in Limburg, and also in Gelderland.

Though Amsterdam led all cities with the most new infections (1,847), it was followed by Den Bosch (1,748), Maastricht (1,686), and Breda (1,471). Utrecht also had a high value of 1,436, as did Eindhoven (1,314), Tilburg (1,201), and Land van Cuijk (1,061).

Data from the hospital system has also become slightly more pessimistic after weeks of improving figures. Hospitals in the Netherlands admitted 1,128 Covid-19 patients in the past seven days, up 2 percent compared to the previous period. That includes 144 patients admitted between Saturday and Sunday afternoon, 14 of whom were sent directly to intensive care units.

The current Covid-19 patient total stood at 1,368, an increase of ten on the previous day after accounting for the new admissions, and also those who either died, or were discharged from the hospital. The patient total rose by 1 percent since last Sunday, the first week-on-week gain since mid-February.

There were 1,211 patients in regular care wards, representing the entire daily increase. The other 157 patients were in intensive care units, a relatively low figure that was unchanged from Saturday. Earlier in the week, the ICU total fell to 147, nearly a 20-week low.