Number of deaths in NL decreasing, now also in nursing homes

The number of deaths per week in the Netherlands is still higher than average, but it is starting to decline and that decline is now also visible in nursing homes, Statistics Netherlands reported on Friday.

Up to and including the first 10 weeks of this year, up until March 8, an average of 759 people died per week in nursing- and care homes. This number started to increase in week 11, peaking at 1,655 deaths in week 15. In the 16th week of this year, between April 13 and 19, an estimated 1,500 residents of nursing and care homes died. So while the number of deaths is starting to decline, it is still much higher than the average for the first 10 weeks of the year.

In the Netherlands as a whole, the number of deaths increased from an average of 2,320 per week in the first 10 weeks of the year, to 2,350 in week 14. After that, a decrease started. Last week, an estimated 2,700 people died. The number of deaths is still about 1.2 times higher than the average in the first 10 weeks of 2020.

The sudden increase in the number of deaths coincides with the coronavirus outbreak in the Netherlands, the stats office said. The first patient tested positive for Covid-19 on February 27, and the first coronavirus related death in the Netherlands was on March 6. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic.