Netherlands adds 52 to Covid-19 death toll; Over 43K known coronavirus infections

Health authorities in the Netherlands said that 52 more people with Covid-19 have died, and another 52 were hospitalized. The statistics revealed on Wednesday by the RIVM cover a multi-day period, and did not all take place in the past 24 hours.

At least 5,562 people have died as a result of the viral infection, including 15 who passed away on Tuesday. Ten more died on Monday than previously thought, raising that day's total to 23. The remaining 27 deaths largely took place between April 2 and May 10.

The 52 newly-reported hospitalizations took place on dates scattered between March 8 and May 13. To date, 11,430 have required treatment in a hospital for the coronavirus disease. Only one person has been reported as entering a hospital with Covid-19 on Tuesday, a number which will surely rise. Four more cases were added to Monday's total, which means at least five people were admitted that day. The RIVM knew of eight people who were hospitalized on Sunday, adding six to previously-released figures.

The RIVM said that a survey conducted on its behalf by health care research firm Nivel showed that over 80 percent of respondents had a high level of confidence in the intelligent lockdown strategy put in place by the Dutch government. About 35 percent of the 2,654 people surveyed said the were concerned about their health during the coronavirus crisis, and another five percent said they were very concerned. Just under 40 percent said they were neither concerned nor unconcerned.

Most of the remaining 20 percent said they were not terribly concerned, with a handful saying they were really not concerned at all.

The RIVM also acknowledged that 227 more people tested positive for a coronavirus infection, bringing the total number of known cases up to 43,211. Of that total, 9,114 reside in the province of Zuid-Holland, which has increasingly become the hardest-hit of all 12 provinces.

Some 275,720 people have been tested for the infection across the Netherlands, as of early Wednesday morning, the RIVM said.