Covid hospital total rebounds above 2,000 for the first time in 3 months

The number of patients with Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals shot back up since Sunday afternoon, according to figures from the LCPS. The hospital total had shown the sharpest single-day decrease on record on Saturday, but since then the figure rose above two thousand for the first time in nearly three months to reach its highest point since Christmas Eve.

There were 2,017 people with the coronavirus disease in hospital care on Monday afternoon. That was 157 more than on Sunday, after accounting for new admissions, discharges and deaths. It was the biggest single-day increase since December 2020. Despite the large increase, the hospital total remained 5 percent higher compared to a week earlier. A similar increase would push that figure up towards 2,120.

Most of the increase was seen in the regular care wards, where the patient total rose by 146 to 1,869. The other 148 patients were in intensive care units, a net increase of 11. The ICU tally remained near its lowest point since last October, and has held below 200 for 40 days in a row.

Dutch hospitals admitted 214 patients with the disease in the past 24 hours, including 17 sent directly to intensive care. Hospitals took on an average of 249 Covid-19 patients each of the past seven days. The LCPS counts all patients with the coronavirus infection in its statistics, regardless of the severity of their Covid-19 symptoms, because the patients are required to be isolated. This puts added strain on hospital resources.

The RIVM said that 31,883 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus between Sunday and Monday morning. That pulled the seven-day average down for the tenth straight time. The figure was 46,949, down 26 percent compared to the previous week.

The three cities with the most new infections were Amsterdam (1,393), Rotterdam (872), and The Hague (831). Rotterdam's total was about 48 percent below its average, while the other two were over 42 percent below average.

The positivity rate also remained at 66 percent during the period of March 13-19, based on GGD coronavirus testing. That was down from 66.6 percent the week before. Testing figures fell from an average of 92,700 per day to 67,800 during the more recent weekly period.