Highest new Covid hospitalizations in a year; Sewage analysis suggests more infections

Hospitals have admitted 210 new patients with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, patient coordination service LCPS said on Tuesday afternoon. That is the highest number since March 31, nearly one year ago. Although the number of new diagnosed infections has declined, an analysis of waste water showed that the actual number of infections is likely on the rise.

In total, the hospitals are now treating 916 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus infection. That is nine more than on Monday.

It is especially busy in the regular care wards. In about a month's time, the number of Covid-19 patients there has risen from about 300 to 864. This could rise further to well over a thousand in the coming weeks, the LCPS has calculated. The number of patients with the disease in intensive care units has risen from about 20 to 52 in two weeks.

In its data, the LCPS makes no distinction between people who have been admitted as a direct result of their coronavirus infection and those who were first admitted for other health issues before also testing positive. The RIVM does account for that distinction. The public health institute said it, too, has observed that more people are being admitted because of the coronavirus infection. Most people who test positive for the virus are 80 years or older, and the elderly are generally more at risk of severe complaints when they become infected.

The RIVM said that it learned of 601 hospitalizations due to coronavirus complaints last week, the highest total since the beginning of January. Seven out of ten patients are 70 years or older. The source of their infection is largely unknown.

In the past week, the RIVM recorded 3,825 positive coronavirus tests. That is about 16 percent less than a week earlier. However, those figures should not be considered complete as the health institute only reports the results of tests carried out at official locations, and not self-test results. Fewer and fewer people are getting tested for infection at the GGD sites, for example, with fewer than 1,500 tested in the last calendar week. That was down from over 3,250 the previous week.

To keep track of the pandemic, the RIVM also measures how many virus particles are in sewage. Those numbers are still rising. According to the RIVM, the new coronavirus wave is mainly due to a new variant of the virus that has become dominant. That variant is called XBB.

It is not yet clear how long the increase will continue, but the RIVM expects "that this wave is approaching its peak or may have already reached it. After that, the same will probably apply to hospital admissions."