Only nine known coronavirus deaths on Saturday; N. Brabant no longer hardest hit province

The Netherlands reached a troubling milestone on Sunday, with over 5,000 confirmed fatal cases involving someone who tested positive for a coronavirus infection. Public health agency RIVM confirmed another 69 deaths in an update, including 9 who died on Saturday.

As it stands now, the single-digit figure of coronavirus-related deaths was the first since March 13. Delays in data reporting and testing updates are likely to lead to an increase in all reported deaths. For example, the other deaths reported by the agency took place between March 25 and May 1, bringing the total up to 5,056.

Since the pandemic began, 10,995 have required hospitalization after testing positive for the virus, an increase of 44. Twelve of those included in the total were known to have been hospitalized on Sunday, while the rest were scattered starting on March 16.

Generally, the number of new patient admissions has been on a downward trend since May 24, while daily registered deaths have declined since May 31. The number of people with Covid-19 in intensive care has also fallen steadily since a peak on April 9, reaching a busy but more normal level on Saturday.

To date, 40,571 people have tested positive for the viral infection, an increase of 335 since the last set of figures was reported on Saturday. By Friday nearly 226 thousand people had been tested for coronavirus. More tests were being carried out over the weekend, but the amount of tests was not likely to be known until Monday.

Zuid-Holland surpasses Noord-Brabant in total coronavirus cases

The latest report from the RIVM also showed that the southern province of Noord-Brabant was no longer home to the most infections in the country, for the first time since reporting began. Zuid-Holland, the province which includes Rotterdam, The Hague, and Leiden, now had more infected residents than any of the 12 provinces.

Some 8,416 residents in Zuid-Holland have tested positive for coronavirus since late February, compared to 8,404 in Noord-Brabant. Both provinces represent approximately 20.7 percent of all infected persons in the Netherlands.

Noord-Brabant was home to the first person to have reported a positive coronavirus test in the Netherlands. Soon after, several members of the man's family tested positive, as did hundreds of others in the province, as the number of cases there surged between the end of February through the third week in March.

Infections there began to slow as residents there were the first in the Netherlands to be advised to stay at home as much as possible, while keeping distance from others. At the same time, the number of cases in Zuid-Holland and Gelderland surged before finally beginning to taper off after Easter.