Covid hospital total nears 80-day high; Infections fall by 22% in a week

Hospitals in the Netherlands were treating 1,975 people with Covid-19 on Friday, 20 more than a day earlier after accounting for new admissions, discharges and deaths. The patient total rose to its highest point since December 29. Compared to last Friday, the latest tally was 19 percent higher. A similar increase would push the figure up to 2,350.

The figure from the LCPS included 152 patients in intensive care units, a net decrease of two. The number of Covid-19 patients in the ICU has remained close to its lowest level since mid-October. However, there were 1,823 patients in regular care wards, a net increase of 22 in a day that took the total to its highest point since mid-December.

Dutch hospitals admitted 273 patients with Covid-19 between Thursday and Friday afternoon, including 17 sent directly to intensive care. On average, hospitals admitted 257 patients with the disease each of the past seven days. That was 24 percent higher than figures showed last Friday, which took the total to its highest point in three months.

The RIVM said that 49,373 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection between Thursday and Friday morning. That brought the seven-day moving average down for the seventh straight day. The average was 53,522, about 22 percent lower compared to the previous week.

The three cities with the most new infections were Amsterdam (2,047), Rotterdam (1,694), and The Hague (1,562). Each figure was a few hundred below its respective average.

About 65.5 percent of people tested at a GGD facility between March 10-16 received the news they were infected with the coronavirus. During that time, 78,300 people were tested daily on average. That was well below the 99,000 daily tests the previous week, when 68.7 percent tested positive.