Weekly figures: number of new positive cases dropped 27 percent

The decrease in the number of new corona infections after the carnival peak at the beginning of March seems to have finally started. RIVM registered 313,318 positive tests last week, 27 percent less than a week earlier. The percentage of positive tests remained the same at 66.2 percent.

In the weeks before that, the number of positive tests risen sharply† This was related to a large round of relaxation of the corona rules and with carnival. The increase was greatest in the regions where Carnival is celebrated. Last week the number of new infections stabilized on about 429,000 cases.

The decline in the elderly is slowing down

A decrease can be seen in all age groups, most strongly among 18 to 24-year-olds. There, the number of new positive tests fell by almost half. The decline was smaller in the oldest age groups. In the age group between 70 and 80, the number of new corona cases decreased by about 10 percent, compared to more than 7 percent among people over 80.

The number of new hospital admissions fell slightly last week. 1616 patients with corona were admitted to nursing wards, a week earlier there were still 1742. There was an increase in ICUs in terms of new admissions. 114 corona patients were admitted to the ICU, compared to 99 a week earlier.

The occupancy in hospitals is therefore slightly higher than last week. In total, there are now 1990 patients with corona in hospital, 158 of whom are in the ICU. A week earlier, that was 1952 at 156. The number of people who died as a result of a corona infection fell from 104 to 95.

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