Another 112 coronavirus deaths in NL

A total of 112 people in the Netherlands died of coronavirus Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, public health institute RIVM said on Friday. This is the highest number of deaths in a single day the Netherlands has seen yet and brings the total number of coronavirus deaths to 546.

The Netherlands now counts a total of 8,603 Covid-19 patients, that is 1,172 more positive tests than on Thursday. A total of 2,500 of these patients were or had been hospitalized.

Despite the increasing number of daily coronavirus deaths, the RIVM thinks the government's measures to curb the virus are having an effect. According to the health institute, the infection figures would be higher without the measures.

Although the increase of 1,172 people testing positive is the largest reported in a single day, the rate of increase in coronavirus patients fell slightly to 15.8 percent.The RIVM also pointed out that the increase in the number of hospital admissions and intensive care admissions seems to be slowing down.

Noord-Brabant is still the province with the most Covid-19 patients at 2,488. But the number of new hospital admissions in the province is starting to decrease, the RIVM said. Zuid-Holland and Noord-Holland have the second and third most infections at 1,249 and 1,235 respectively. The number of hospital admissions in these two provinces are rising relatively quickly, as are admissions in Gelderland.

The weekly Council of Ministers is still happening during the coronavirus crisis, but in a bigger office so that Ministers can keep the recommended 1.5 meters apart.

NPO Radio 2 is broadcasting an online music festival on Friday evening, to support freelancers in the music world who can't perform due to Covid-19 restrictions. Among the participants are Danny Vera, Ilse DeLange, and the 3J's, as well as new talents like ANNNA and Lui Paard. There will be several 'stages', with artists performing in their living rooms and broadcasting it on their YouTube channel. NPO Radio 2 will be broadcasting two songs from each performance. The festival starts at 6:00 p.m.

Queen Maxima video-chatted with nurses in the intensive care unit of the Elisabeth TweeSteden hospital in Tilburg. According to the Dutch Queen, the call was meant to "show from our side, but also on behalf of many others: we are grateful!"