Covid hospitalizations fall to lowest level since Christmas
The number of people being treated in hospitals for Covid-19 fell further on Thursday, reaching the lowest level since December 25. The total went down by 44 patients between the afternoons of Wednesday and Thursday to 2,340.
That included 1,667 people in regular care, a decrease of 42 after accounting for new admissions, deaths, and patient discharges. There were 673 others in intensive care, a net decline of two.
The combined total was six percent lower than a week ago. If that average decrease holds for another week, there will be fewer than 2,200 people with the coronavirus disease in hospitals by next Thursday.
Hospitals admitted 226 patients into regular care during the 24-hour period, the same as a week ago and about 10 percent higher than the seven-day average. Another 36 people were also moved into intensive care units.
Additionally, the number of new coronavirus infections reported on Thursday ticked up slightly, but not enough to raise the seven-day moving average. Some 5,857 more people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, about 4 percent more than on Wednesday, and 11 percent lower than a week ago.
That caused the rolling average to drop by almost two percent to 5,383, according to the RIVM. So far this week, 20,629 people have tested positive for the infection, an 11 percent reduction from last week.
The health institute also acknowledged that 91 more people died from Covid-19. There was no change to the rolling average of 83. This calendar week, 343 deaths were reported to the agency, a decrease of 17 percent.
To date, 932,884 people have tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection. That includes 13,337 whose deaths were caused by Covid-19, the RIVM said.
