New coronavirus infections dip below 7,800; Fourth straight fall

For the fourth day in a row, the number of new coronavirus infections fell, according to Dutch public health agency RIVM. Preliminary data showed that 7,776 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 infection, over 15 percent below the seven-day rolling average of 9,172.

The single-day total was also six percent lower than Monday's tally, and nearly 25 percent down from figures released a week ago. Over the past two days, 16,082 people tested positive for the virus, down 22 percent versus the same two-day period last week.

At the same time, there were 113 new deaths connected to Covid-19, which raised the total in the Netherlands to 7,576. Over the past seven days, an average of 62 deaths were reported daily by the RIVM. The three cities with the most infections reported on Tuesday were Rotterdam (595), Amsterdam (368) and The Hague (367). Of the three, Amsterdam showed the most significant change with a drop of 46 percent versus a week ago. Rotterdam figures were flat, and The Hague recorded an 11 percent fall in new infections.

Hospitals in the Netherlands took on the most Covid-19 patients in a single day since early April, with 364 patients admitted to non-acute care wards since Monday afternoon. That raised the seven-day average up to 284. During that time, 59 patients were moved into intensive care, according to patient coordination office LCPS.

It pushed the Covid-19 patient total up to 2,653, a net increase of 108 after accounting for patient deaths and discharges. The total was 12.5 percent higher than a week earlier, with a seven-day average daily increase of 1.7 percent. Both rates have steadily fallen since a peak during the second week of October.

The patient total included 609 people being treated in intensive care, an increase of 22. It was the first time the number of Covid-19 patients in ICU topped six hundred since May 6. Outside of the ICU, hospital departments were treating another 2,044 people with the coronavirus disease, an increase of 86.

A continuation of the average rate of increase in hospital totals would suggest that about three thousand admitted patients will be present by the middle of next week.

The Dutch medical system has treated 20,374 patients outside of intensive care for Covid-19, and 4,623 in intensive care. An estimated 3,883 people died from the disease while in a hospital, according to nonprofit organization NICE.