Dutch Covid hospitalizations down 13 percent this week; Coronavirus average flattens

Hospitals in the Netherlands admitted 607 patients with Covid-19 during the week ending Sunday afternoon. That was 13.2 percent lower than the 700 patient admissions a week earlier, according to data from national patient coordination center LCPS.

It is the first weekly decrease reported through the end of a calendar week since July 4. That week marked the start of a surge in coronavirus infections caused by a combination of the emerging Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the government’s decision to release nearly all coronavirus restrictions at the end of June.

Hospitals admitted 480 patients directly into regular care wards, including 60 in the past 24 hours, compared to 572 the previous week. Another 127 patients were admitted into intensive care units, just one less than a week earlier. Eighteen of the ICU admissions took place between Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

On average, hospitals this past week took on 87 Covid-19 patients daily, including 18 who were sent straight to the ICU.

There were 673 people being treated for the coronavirus disease in hospital care on Sunday afternoon, a net decrease of three after accounting for admissions, discharges and deaths. That was one percent lower than a week earlier, the first time the number of patients in care has registered a weekly decline since July 13.

Some 473 of the patients were in regular care wards, a decrease of two. The other 200 were in intensive care, a net decrease of one.

Though the number of intensive care patients was relatively low compared to other points during the coronavirus pandemic, Covid-19 cases represented about 30 percent of all 673 ICU patients. There are just 127 ICU beds currently available for acute emergencies, as staff shortages and holidays reduced intensive care capacity in the Netherlands to 800 available spots.

Another 2,347 positive coronavirus tests were recorded by public health institute RIVM, according to raw data released by the agency on Sunday. That brought the seven-day moving average down by one case to 2,626. Though the decrease was slight, it was the 20th straight day that the average has fallen.

The average was 26 percent lower compared to a week ago. The preliminary data suggested that the decline in infections would continue, but was entering a phase where it could flatten out.

Some 228 residents of Amsterdam tested positive for the coronavirus infection, about ten percent above the capital’s average. Rotterdam’s total of 100 new infections on Sunday as 22 percent below average, while the 82 infections in The Hague were about 15 percent below that city’s average.

People in the Netherlands have tested positive for the coronavirus infection 1,885,805 times since the pandemic began.