After two days of increases, the number of corona patients in hospitals again decreases | Inland

The number of Covid patients admitted has fallen sharply in recent weeks. In mid-December there were still about 1000 more patients in hospitals than now. Exactly one year ago, on January 4, 2021, there were 2,845. That is more than 1150 more than now.

There are currently 464 corona patients in intensive care units, 11 fewer than a day earlier. That was 715 a year ago. The number of corona patients in the nursing wards fell by 26 to 1,229 in the past 24 hours.

In the past 24 hours, 28 new corona patients were admitted to the ICUs. 151 new patients were brought into the nursing wards.

18,616 positive tests, highest number in almost a month

Between Monday morning and Tuesday morning, 18,616 positive results of corona tests were registered. That’s the highest number since December 9, nearly a month ago.

In the past seven days, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) was informed that the corona virus has been diagnosed 113,554 times. That’s about 35 percent higher than the total for the seven days before. It is the fastest weekly increase since November 23.

Amsterdam had 1,636 positive tests in the past 24 hours. Never before has a Dutch municipality had so many positive tests in one day.

Last week: +35 percent

After a few weeks of decreasing corona infections, the numbers are now rising sharply, despite the lockdown. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) registered 113,554 positive corona tests in the past seven days, an increase of 35 percent compared to a week earlier.

The number of hospital admissions fell slightly: 981 people became so sick from the virus that they had to go to hospital. That was 14 percent less than a week earlier. Of these people, 164 had to go to intensive care. Those are the lowest admissions since the end of October.

During the pandemic, it has been shown time and again that an increase in infection rates in the weeks that follow can lead to more hospitalizations. The question is to what extent this will happen again. “In the near future, with a rapidly increasing number of infections by omicron, the number of hospital admissions may increase again. Even if the omicron variant causes serious illness in a smaller proportion of infected people,” RIVM looks ahead.

RIVM is not commenting on a possible effect of the holidays. It is clear that many people visited each other around Christmas and New Year. The holidays coincided with the advance of the new variant, which became dominant in the Netherlands within a few weeks.

In the previous weekly reports, RIVM was still able to report decreasing infection figures. Last week the decrease was 11 percent, the weeks before that 19 and 21 percent respectively.

While infection rates are now rising, the death rate is still relatively low, with 189 reported deaths in the past week. A week before, 272 people were reported to have died from the effects of Covid-19, again a week earlier, 322 deaths were reported.

Huge increase in the number of infections among young people

The number of corona cases among young people and young adults is rising rapidly. The vast majority of infections are found among people aged 15 to 34 years. This emerges from the weekly figures of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

In the past week, the corona virus was diagnosed in 9402 people aged 15 to 19 years. That’s the highest number for that age group since mid-July, the peak of the fourth wave. Compared to a week earlier, the number of positive tests among these young people increased by just over 90 percent.

Among 20- to 24-year-olds, the number of new cases rose by 79 percent to 13,764. That is also the highest number for that group since mid-July. The increase was 63 percent among 25 to 29 year olds and 43 percent among 30 to 34 year olds.

The number of positive tests is also increasing in middle-aged people. For example, the number of cases among people in their fifties rose by almost 60 percent.

The number of corona cases among children is falling rapidly. In the past week, just over 6,000 children under 10 tested positive, 33 percent less than a week earlier.

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