Covid hospital total continues upward climb; Infections still high

Hospitals in the Netherlands were treating 1,663 people with Covid-19 on Friday afternoon, the highest total in over nine weeks. That figure rose by five since Thursday, the sixth straight increase after taking into account new admissions, discharges, and deaths. The hospital total jumped by 20 percent in a week. A similar rise would push the patient total towards 2,000.

Despite the rising patient figures, the number of people with Covid-19 in intensive care remained low at 160, the same as a day earlier. That total has held between 145 and 180 for three weeks, and has stayed below 200 for over a month. The regular care total rose by five to 1,503, the highest it has been since December 24.

Dutch hospitals admitted 255 patients with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the most since February 15. That includes 21 people sent directly to intensive care units, tying the nine-week high. Hospitals admitted 1,448 patients with Covid-19 during the past seven days, up 38 percent in a week. Out of that group, 104 people were sent to intensive care units, a 24 percent increase.

The RIVM said that 69,215 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus between Thursday and Friday morning. That pushed the seven-day moving average up for the 11th straight day. The figure rose slightly to 68,931, about 60 percent higher than last Friday.

The basic reproduction (R) number shot up dramatically, reaching 1.29. That means 100 people contagious with the coronavirus on February 21 infected 129 others, who then spread it to 166 more. They in turn infected another 215 people. A figure above 1.00 indicates that infection totals are likely to keep rising.

The positivity rate fell slightly to 68.5 percent based on data from the GGD from between March 3-9. On average, about 98,600 people were tested by the GGD daily during that period, up 67 percent in a week.

Amsterdam led all cities in the latest round of data with 3,003 new infections. The capital's seven-day average stood at 2,475, up 24 percent in a week. Rotterdammers tested positive 1,566 times, and 1,521 tested positive in Tilburg.