Dutch Covid hospital total holds below 500 with fewer than 20 in the ICU; Infections low

The number of patients with Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals remained below 500 this week, something not reported by patient coordination office LCPS since September. Even then, there were more intensive care patients at that time, whereas the total on Tuesday was below 20. Dutch hospitals were treating 477 patients with Covid-19 in total.

That combined figure represents a sharp 23 percent decrease in just one week. Since last Tuesday, the ICU figure has fallen by half from 39 to 19. Still, hospitalizations were on the rise this week. over the past seven days, an average of 89 patients were admitted with the coronavirus disease, up from a daily average of 71 during the previous period. Intensive care admissions averaged four per day in each week.

A similar rise in hospitalizations was reported to the RIVM, the Dutch public health institute. They saw 382 hospitalizations during the last calendar week, compared to 330 the previous week. Intensive care admissions were also largely flat at 26, an increase of two.

Meanwhile, diagnosed infections of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus increased by about 7 percent to 5,810. That happened despite a decrease in tests administered, from 7,176 down to 6,924.

Of particular concern was the sharp rise in tests among nursing home residents, which jumped by over 50 percent. Many of these residents may be candidates to be treated with the expensive anti-viral medication Paxlovid under their basic health insurance.

The important basic reproduction (R) number dipped slightly from 0.98 to 0.97, indicating that 100 people contagious with the coronavirus on 29 November likely infected 97 others. They in turn passed it on to 94 more individuals. When the R-number is below 1.00, it indicates a likelihood that diagnosed and undiagnosed infections will decrease over time.

At the same time, coronavirus particles found in sewage remained elevated compared to previous weeks. Additionally, 5.6 percent of people surveyed at random reported symptoms of Covid-19, up from 5.3 percent. However, 1.1 percent of surveyed participants tested positive for the infection during the last calendar week, compared to 1.0 percent each of the past two calendar weeks.