No rise in Covid-19 hospital cases in 11 days; Infections top 70,000

The number of people being treated in Dutch hospitals for Covid-19 has dropped or remained the same for 11 straight days. There were 130 people being treated for the coronavirus disease on Saturday, a decrease of four in a day.

Intensive care units were treating 34 people for Covid-19, the same as on Friday, while other hospital departments were treating 96 patients, a decrease of four, said patient coordination office LCPS. It was the first time since August 11 that the non-ICU departments had fewer than a hundred admitted patients.

“We are back to the low level [of Covid-19] patients at the end of July,” said Ernst Kuipers, the head of the Dutch acute care providers network. Preliminary data from public health agency RIVM showed that 18 people were admitted into hospitals from Wednesday through Friday, while just two people were moved into intensive care units.

To date, 3,030 residents of the Netherlands have been treated in intensive care for the coronavirus disease. While 1,966 people were discharged after receiving care, 882 died during their ICU stay, according to figures from nonprofit organization NICE.

Also on Saturday, the RIVM revealed that 501 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus. Since the end of February, over 70,100 people have tested positive for the virus in the Netherlands.

The agency’s early data showed that 3,078 more positive tests were announced this week, down from 3,095 a week ago.