The growing number of infections must be closely monitored, according to Aura Timen of the RIVM, as well as the increase in the number of cases among people over 70. But for the time being the situation is under control, says the head of the Center for National Coordination of Infectious Disease Control on Tuesday in conversation with NU.nl.
In the past week, 433 people over 70 were diagnosed with the corona virus, a sharp increase compared to a week earlier (253). According to Timen, there is not yet a problem, but the situation must be closely monitored.
Timen notices, for example, that some Dutch people with complaints still go outside and visit the elderly and vulnerable, despite repeated calls to stay at home. The health expert is concerned about that.
However, it is unclear how many infections they are responsible for, Timen emphasizes. She still calls the situation in nursing homes “relatively calm”. Only some of the recently infected people over 70 would live in a nursing home.
The increase is not only related to more tests
Most of the new infections were contracted in the domestic atmosphere, at family parties, on the work floor and in catering establishments. Timen speaks of a significant increase: “It concerns more than a thousand infections per day, which cannot be entirely attributed to the increasing number of corona tests.”
The share of positive tests rose from 2.8 to 3.9 percent. Although some of the Dutch people with complaints do not allow themselves to be tested, Timen notices that in total more Dutch people visit a test street. “At the beginning of the outbreak it was 12 percent, now it concerns a third of all Dutch people.”
Timen wants to see a decrease or at least a stabilization of the corona numbers in the short term. “The autumn period with many respiratory infections is just around the corner. They are easily transferable from person to person. It would not be good to enter that period with rising corona numbers.”
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