Covid-19 hospitalizations continue to rise as infections grow by 57%

There were 184 people being treated in Dutch hospitals for Covid-19 on Sunday, the highest total in nearly 11 weeks. The number of new coronavirus infections this week reported by Dutch health agency RIVM reached 7,312, a 57-percent increase over last week, and the most in a single week since April 12.

There were 1,087 new coronavirus infections reported by the RIVM on Sunday. That represented an 18 percent increase over last Sunday's total. Over 70 percent of infections reported on Sunday regarded residents living in the Randstad region, which over the past week led officials to suggest the possibility of new social restrictions in the largest Dutch cities, particularly Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The hospital patients included 36 in intensive care, a decrease of one, according to patient coordination office LCPS. Outside of the ICU, there were 148 patients with the coronavirus disease, an increase of ten.

"The number of admitted COVID patients continues to rise; it is now at the highest level since 1 July," said Ernst Kuipers, the head of the Dutch acute care providers network. According to the RIVM, Dutch hospitals took on 33 more patients from Thursday through Saturday, and nine people moved into intensive care during that time.

To date, 3,072 residents of the Netherlands required treatment in an intensive care unit for the coronavirus disease. Some 2,026 were eventually released from the hospital, while 895 died in the ICU.