Dutch Covid hospital total back below 600; New infections hit 80-day low

Hospital in the Netherlands were treating fewer than 600 patients with Covid-19 for the first time since June 24. There were 580 patients with the disease in treatment on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, fewer than 9,000 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus this past week, the lowest weekly total since the beginning of June. Sewage surveillance also showed a sharp decline in virus particles, though all regions of the Netherlands are still in the midst of the school holiday period.

Of the 580 people with Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals, 41 of them were in intensive care units. That total has fluctuated around 40 for two months. The other 539 patients were being treated in regular care wards, according to figures from the LCPS.

There were nearly 700 patients in hospital care a week ago, meaning the patient total has dropped off by 17 percent since last Tuesday. Intensive care patient figures were basically flat. On average, hospitals took on 69 patients with the disease each of the past seven days, including four sent to an ICU. A week earlier, 83 patients were admitted on average every day, including five sent to intensive care. The decrease in hospital admissions was also at a rate of 17 percent.

Figures from the LCPS include every hospitalized patient who tests positive for the coronavirus infection because of how keeping them in isolation affects hospital resources. The RIVM uses data from intensive care monitor NICE, but in the past this data only includes those patients in active care for Covid-19 symptoms. Data from the RIVM and NICE showed that 305 patients with the disease were admitted from Monday through Sunday, the same as the previous calendar week. ICU admissions ticked up from 26 to 27 during that time, the RIVM said.

Some 8,906 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus during the seven-day period ending on Tuesday morning. That was the lowest weekly total in more than two months. The total was nearly 24 percent lower compared to the previous seven-day period. However, the number of people tested by the GGD continued to fall, with just 11,700 tests completed last calendar week. That was down 17 percent.

Sewage surveillance also showed that the number of coronavirus particles found in sewer water fell by 33 percent during the second full week of August. That figure started to rise slightly from August 15-17. "In both weeks, the average number of virus particles was highest in Amsterdam-Amstelland," the RIVM said. "The BA.5 Omicron variant was detected most often, and the BA.4 variant was again detected less." The BA.5 variant has accounted for over 90 percent of infections for four weeks straight.

The basic reproduction (R) value rose from 0.81 to 0.88, indicating that 100 people contagious with the virus on August 8 infected 88 others. They then passed the virus on to 77 people, who in turn infected 68 more individuals, the health institute's model showed.

The RIVM also said that some 31 deaths linked to Covid-19 were reported to the institute last week, up from 25 the week before. There is no requirement to report such deaths in a timely manner, resulting in the institute sometimes learning of new deaths weeks after they happen.