Infectieradar, the weekly national survey in which participants report whether they have symptoms that could indicate a SARS-CoV-2 infection, is showing a decrease in the number of people reporting potentially relevant symptoms. 

Prevent the spread by following the basic measures, even if you are vaccinated. 

All the weekly COVID-19 figures are presented in a table and in graphs on the RIVM website.

 

Hospital admissions and ICU admissions

The number of hospital admissions decreased slightly last week compared to the week before. The National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) Foundation recorded 1,998 new hospital admissions of patients with COVID-19 in the past week, 147 fewer admissions than the week before (-7%). Just under half of the new hospital admissions were patients aged 60-79 years (45% of all admissions in that week), followed by patients aged 80 years and older (24%). 

343 new patients with COVID-19 were admitted to ICU, 32 fewer than the week before (-9%). More than half of the new ICU admissions were patients aged 60-79 years (55% of all ICU admissions last week), followed by patients aged 40-59 years (36% of all ICU admissions last week). 

Due to the extended treatment period required for COVID-19 patients, pressure on hospitals remains very high, despite the slight decrease in new admissions to ICU and nursing wards last week. 

There are regional differences in hospital admissions. Looking at hospital admissions in relation to the number of people living in the region, the highest numbers of people with COVID-19 admitted to hospital in the last calendar week were observed in the regions of Limburg-Zuid, Zeeland, Brabant-Zuidoost, Gelderland-Zuid and Zuid-Holland-Zuid.

Vaccination status of people with COVID-19 admitted to hospital

The chance that a fully vaccinated person with COVID-19 will be admitted to hospital is much lower than for a non-vaccinated person. 47% of all patients with COVID-19 admitted to the nursing wards of hospitals between 1 November and 23 November 2021 were not vaccinated. 66% of patients under 70 years admitted to hospital were not vaccinated. 32% of patients aged 70 years and over who were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 during this period were not vaccinated. 
66% of all patients with COVID-19 admitted to ICU between 1 November and 23 November 2021 were not vaccinated. 74% of patients with COVID-19 under 70 years admitted to ICU were not vaccinated. 51% of patients aged 70 years and over admitted to ICU were not vaccinated. On 30 November 2021, RIVM published an update on the vaccination status of people admitted to hospital with COVID-19. It included the latest results from the study on how well the vaccines protect against serious illness. 

Vaccination coverage

At this point in time, 83.7% of everyone in the Netherlands aged 12 years and older are fully vaccinated. Vaccination coverage increases with age. In the age groups up to 40 years, vaccination coverage ranges between 64% and 77%. In the age groups aged 41 and over, vaccination coverage ranges between 81% and 93%. 

Positive COVID-19 tests 

147,982 positive test results were reported last week*. Compared to one week before, the number of newly reported infections decreased slightly, dropping 5%. Per 100,000 inhabitants, 822 people received a positive test result. More than 621,000 people (621,823) were tested by the Municipal Public Health Services (GGDs), 7% fewer than in the week before that. The percentage of peopl

Since Friday 3 December, the number of people making an appointment to get tested by the GGD has been decreasing. This may be related to the fact that people with mild symptoms who are not in a risk group and do not work in healthcare can now use a self-test. If you test positive for COVID-19 on a self-test, it is important to have the result confirmed by the GGD. Because more people with symptoms will now use a self-test, the number of people getting tested in the GGD test lanes may decrease in the next few weeks. The percentage of people who test positive for COVID-19 is expected to increase in the next few weeks, because more people with a positive self-test will go to the GGD test lanes to confirm the result. 

 All age groups have shown a modest decrease in the number of reported positive tests (Figure 1). The highest numbers of positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants were reported in the security regions of Limburg-Zuid (1,183), Zeeland (1,097), Zuid-Holland-Zuid (1,042), Limburg-Noord (959) and Brabant-Noord (951). 

Figure 1: Number of reported positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants, by age group (25 October to 5 December 2021)

Reproduction number R

The most recent reproduction number based on positive COVID-19 tests is for 22 November, and was 0.95 (lower limit 0.94 – upper limit 0.97). That means that 100 people who have COVID-19 will collectively infect another 95 new people. The spread of the virus is gradually slowing. 

* Positive tests reported to RIVM between 30 November 2021 at 10:01 and 7 December 2021 at 10:00. The number of tests in GGD test lanes, hospital admissions and ICU admissions are shown by calendar week.