Drop in Covid patient total ends after weeks of falling figures; Infections still low
The number of patients with Covid-19 fell consistently since reaching a peak of 1,237 on 19 October, but that decline has halted for the moment. There were 657 patients with the disease in Dutch hospitals on Tuesday afternoon, reflecting a single-day increase of 6 percent including 32 patients in intensive care. That brought the total back up to the same level it was at a week earlier, according to patient coordination service LCPS.
The reduction in daily patient admissions also stopped. Hospitals admitted an average of 77 patients with the disease each of the past seven days, up from 68 a week earlier. That includes four people sent directly to intensive care units, down from five a week ago.
Similar figures were released by the RIVM, which showed an 8 percent increase in Covid-19 hospitalization during the last calendar week to 324 in total. Out of that group, 30 were sent directly to an ICU, a sharp increase from 18 the previous week.
The weekly round up of coronavirus data released by the RIVM was a mix of positive and less optimistic news. Some 5,155 people tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus at the GGD during the seven-day period ending on Tuesday morning, continuing weeks of declines since the peak of the autumn wave.
The total dropped by 5 percent since last Tuesday, but there was a 13 percent increase in positive tests reported by people living in a nursing home. At the same time, there was a 12 percent fall in the number of people who went to the GGD to get tested, with fewer than 7,100 tests completed.
Meanwhile, a survey found that 4.3 percent of respondents have symptoms of Covid-19. That was up slightly from 4.2 percent. This past calendar week, 1.0 percent of survey participants tested positive, compared to 0.9 percent the previous week.
However, sewer water surveillance found a convincing increase in coronavirus particles in waste water. Additionally, the basic reproduction value rose from 0.87 to 0.92. That means that 100 people contagious with the virus on November 15 likely infected 92 others. They then spread the virus to another 85 individuals, who went on to infect 78 people themselves.
The higher the reproduction value is, the faster infections are expected to increase. When the value is below 1.00, the models suggest that the infection total will fall.
