Coronavirus infections tick up but well below last week; Hospital total falls further

The number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands ticked up by four percent on Friday to 7,272. The total was still 35 percent below last week's sum of 11,141. At the same time, the number of people hospitalized for Covid-19 fell for the third straight day, dropping back down below 2,450.

It brought the seven-day average down to 8,084, data from public health agency RIVM showed. So far this week, some 38,007 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 infection, a full 24 percent below the same period a week ago.

The three cities with the most infections were Rotterdam (535), Amsterdam (307) and The Hague (221). All three cities showed significant improvement over last week, with Rotterdam's figures decreasing by 20 percent, and Amsterdam's tally down by over half. In The Hague, 37 percent fewer residents tested positive for the virus compared to last Friday.

The seven-day averages for Rotterdam dropped to 547, in Amsterdam to 405, and in The Hague to 292. Some 397,730 in the country have tested positive for the viral infection since the end of February.

Deaths tied to Covid-19 also rose by 118, the RIVM said. Already this week, the deaths of 453 people were determined to be caused by the coronavirus disease. Over the past seven days an average of 78 deaths were reported daily.

To date, a total of 7,887 people in the Netherlands were confirmed to have died from Covid-19. That includes 4,008 people with the disease who died while they were in the hospital.

The country's hospital system was treating 2,445 people for the coronavirus disease on Friday, a decrease of 67. That included 1,842 people who were being treated outside of intensive care, down 63 since Thursday afternoon. The ICU departments were treating an additional 603 people, a decrease of four. Two of the Dutch ICU patients were still being treated in Germany.

Since the end of February, hospitals have treated 20,998 people for Covid-19 outside of ICU, and 4,743 people in intensive care.