Weekly figures: number of corona cases is increasing, questions remain Inland

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reported on Tuesday how many people have tested positive in the past seven days. Last week, the institute reported that it had received 4,208 reports of new cases in the seven days prior. The week before, there were 5714 positive tests.

More than 6,300 cases have been reported in the six days since the last update. That is an average of more than 1050 positive tests per day. This could bring the weekly figure to almost 7400.

Outbreaks

A few major outbreaks have been identified in the past week. For example, at least 180 visitors to the Aspen Valley discotheque in Enschede have tested positive. More than 600 infections have been detected in Amsterdam in the last four days, almost as many as in the two weeks before. On Monday, the capital had 245 new cases, the highest number since mid-May.

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The RIVM estimates that approximately half of all new cases concern the delta variant, the new name of the Indian variant. That could lead to a new wave of hospital admissions in the autumn.

In the weekly update, RIVM also calculates on Tuesday how many corona patients have been admitted to hospitals in the past week and how many people have died from the virus. Last week, the institute reported that 82 people had been hospitalized, 17 of whom were in intensive care. That was significantly lower than the week before, and the decline looks set to continue. The number of reported deaths, 15 last week, is likely to remain about the same.

Reproduction number

RIVM will also calculate the new reproduction number on Tuesday. That figure had fallen significantly since April, suggesting that the virus was finding it increasingly difficult to infect new people. Last Friday the number stood at 0.82. RIVM also reports on Tuesday how many people were vaccinated last week. It’s probably about 1.5 million, slightly more than the week before.

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