LIVE | Significant decrease in corona cases, but more hospital admissions | Inland

As fast as the coronavirus has spread in the previous weeks, the number of positive cases is now falling. But the pressure on healthcare is increasing. More people ended up in a nursing ward or intensive care because of corona. The number of deaths from corona has also increased slightly.

In the past seven days, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) received between 35,000 and 38,000 reports of positive tests. In the week before, there were 69,731 and almost 52,000 the week before. It would mean that the number of new cases has fallen by 45 to 50 percent in the past week.

The RIVM will provide the exact weekly figure on Tuesday. More than 33,000 people have tested positive in the past six days. The outbreak is back to levels seen in early July, when the number of positive tests started to explode.

In the weekly update, RIVM also reports how many corona patients have been admitted to hospitals in the past week. That number is likely to be around 500. Last week, the institute reported that 205 people had been hospitalized, 31 of whom were in intensive care. That was already considerably more than the week before. The vast majority of people who end up in hospital are not vaccinated.

The number of deaths reported in a week is likely to rise above 20. Last week, RIVM reported 14 deaths and the week before 11.

RIVM will also calculate the new reproduction number on Tuesday. That figure stood at 3 a few weeks ago, a record level that points to an explosive rise. It came in at just above 1 at the end of last week, meaning the breakout is stabilizing. If the number falls below 1, the outbreak may slowly die down. The figure is always about the situation two weeks earlier, because more recent figures are not yet reliable enough.

RIVM also reports on Tuesday how many people were vaccinated against the corona virus last week. There are probably about 1 million and that would be the lowest number since the end of May. More than 83 percent of adults have had at least a first injection, making the Netherlands one of the top in Europe.

08.45 – Record number of conversations at Luisterlijn in corona year

The Listen Line has had a record number of conversations in the corona year 2020, according to the annual figures. By phone and chat, volunteers had more than 357,000 conversations, about 12 percent more than in 2019, and more than 1,400 message exchanges via email. During the first period of the pandemic, the number of calls increased by 20 percent, as the lockdown caused feelings of anxiety, loneliness and gloom.

On average, 883 calls per day were received by the Luisterlijn, which anyone who is troubled by something and who does not want to, dare or cannot talk about it in their own environment can call them day and night. More than half of the telephone calls, reached since the beginning of this year via the cheaper new number 088-0767000, were made outside office hours. For example, a caller who was in bed with corona and needed contact, says it is “comforting” that she could call in the middle of the night with someone who was “genuinely interested” in her. “The feeling that I was really being listened to was a huge relief.”

The most discussed topics of the year were about the content of the day, followed by relationships and then about corona. On average, those calls lasted 20 minutes. Chat was held for 33 minutes, mainly about mental health and relationships.

07.00 – Lockdown in Melbourne is lifted

The lockdown in the Australian city of Melbourne will be lifted later on Tuesday as authorities control an outbreak of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. The neighboring state of South Australia is also relaxing stay-at-home rules. But in Sydney, the largest city in the country, the lockdown that has now been in place for five weeks is likely to be extended.

After nearly two weeks of compulsory home stay, the millions of residents of Melbourne and the surrounding state of Victoria can take to the streets just before midnight on Tuesday. “However, it is not over yet. We need to be vigilant for this virus, the Delta strain, in the coming days, weeks and months until we get as many people vaccinated as possible,” said state premier Dan Andrews.

Schools, restaurants and shops in Victoria will reopen, but restrictions, such as wearing face masks, will remain. For at least two weeks, people are not allowed to invite guests into their homes and the number of outdoor gatherings is limited. There were ten new infections in the state on Monday.

In Sydney, authorities announced 172 new cases linked to an outbreak that began in June. A local driver became infected while transporting the crew of an airplane.

Several Australian cities protested against the lockdown over the weekend. In Sydney, thousands of people protested against corona measures and there were clashes with the police. People also took to the streets in Melbourne and Adelaide. In Brisbane, where no lockdown has been announced, there were also demonstrations against the corona policy. People called for freedom and carried banners saying that the country must wake up and that the government is more dangerous than Covid-19.

More than 33,000 infections and 930 corona deaths have been registered in Australia since the start of the pandemic. So far, roughly 13 percent of all 25 million inhabitants have been vaccinated against the virus.

00.54 – Night closure and alcohol ban in Arnhem park due to parties

Park Sonsbeek in Arnhem will close daily between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. from Tuesday, Mayor Ahmed Marcouch has decided. An alcohol ban also applies between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.

For weeks, parties have been held in the park in the evenings and nights, which attract many young people from Arnhem and surrounding municipalities. “At those parties, no distance is kept, there is excessive alcohol and drug use, persistent nuisance for local residents and enforcement and police have to intervene regularly,” the municipality says.

A late night party in the park recently saw a brawl involving about a hundred people. The municipality also fears that the appeal of the park will only increase now that the summer holiday in the Arnhem region has started.

“The continuous flow of parties is not only a major nuisance for local residents, but also creates unacceptable health risks. The visitors make this park too dangerous at night,” Mayor Marcouch said in a statement. He calls on parents to know where their children are and to address them. “The greater the chance of open schools after the summer,” said the mayor. The night closure and the alcohol ban will last until at least September 30.

00.15 – The Netherlands again high-risk area for Germany

Germany considers the Netherlands and Spain to be high-risk areas from Tuesday. This means that stricter rules will apply to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Travelers must be quarantined after arriving in Germany after staying in a high-risk area, unless they have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from the coronavirus. In principle, the quarantine lasts ten days, but can be ended early if people test negative after five days.

People must have proof that they have been vaccinated, recently tested or cured of Covid-19 before crossing the border. They must also provide such data to the German authorities via a form on the Internet.

The rules do not only apply to adults, but to all travelers aged 6 and older. That can also be a problem for Germans who are on holiday with their families in the Netherlands or Spain. Many German adults have already been vaccinated, but their children often have not.

The German authorities do make an exception for certain groups of travelers. This concerns people who have driven through a high-risk area without stopping and people who are in transit to another country and ensure that they take the fastest possible route through Germany.

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