Fewer than 525 Covid patients for the first time since Oct. 2021; Less than 9,000 positive tests
Hospitals in the Netherlands were treating 524 patients with Covid-19 on Tuesday afternoon. The figure ticked up slightly from Monday afternoon, which set a new mark for the lowest patient total since October 13. Just 32 of the current patients were in intensive care units, near the lowest point since September 10, 2020. The other 492 patients were in regular care wards.
Figures from the patient coordination service showed that about 45 people with the disease were admitted into hospital care each of the past seven days. That was down from 55 the previous week. The current figure includes two sent directly to intensive care per day, where ICU admissions had been four daily the previous week.
Preliminary data released by the RIVM showed that 215 people with Covid-19 were admitted since last Tuesday, when the initial total was 259. That figure was revised upward to 311. The RIVM compared the latest preliminary figure to the finalized total from last week to claim a 31 percent decrease in hospitalizations this week. The RIVM did confirm that 17 people were admitted into intensive care the past seven days, down from 23 the previous week.
Only 8,372 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus last week, down 16 percent from the previous period. Coronavirus testing by the GGD also dropped by about 15 percent from 15,465 to 13,152. During both weeks, roughly 53 percent of those tested were given the positive diagnosis for the infection.
The update brought the seven-day moving average down to 1,196 infections diagnosed per day. That's the first time the average has been below 1,200 since July 5. The most common variant of the virus detected during the sequencing of random samples the last two weeks of April was the Omicron BA.2 variant. That was found 98 percent of the time, with a small amount of BA.4 and BA.5 mutations also discovered.
A survey of 1,046 people who tested positive last week showed that 42 percent were likely infected at home, and over 16 percent likely acquired the infection during a trip or a vacation. About 14 percent tested positive after visiting another household, 10 percent after visiting a party, 9 percent from the workplace, and 8 percent after stopping at a hospitality business.
Out of those infected during the last seven days, about 19 percent were in their fifties. That made the age group the most commonly infected, with about 18 percent of those testing positive having been in their thirties. Only about 1.7 percent of those infected were up to through the age of nine, similar to the number of infections found in people aged 85 and over.
After the sharp rise announced last week, the basic reproduction (R) value fell back down to 0.89. That means that 100 people contagious with the virus on May 2 passed the coronavirus on to 89 others. They then infected another 79 individuals, who spread the coronavirus to 70 more people. When the R-value is below 1.00, it indicates a likelihood that fewer people will become infected.
The health institute also said it learned that 16 people died from Covid-19 last week, a decrease of three compared to a week earlier. There is no obligation to report the deaths to the RIVM, and often the notifications are made well after a person has died.
