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

17,832 people received a positive test result last week*, a 48% increase compared to the week before that. This corresponds to 105 people who tested positive per 100,000 inhabitants. More than 158,000 people were tested, 16% more than in the week before that. The percentage of people who tested positive for COVID-19 rose from 8.1% to 10.3%. In total, there were 8,781 people who were tested by the Municipal Public Health Services (GGDs) after a positive self-test. In 81.2% of these people, the positive result on the self-test was confirmed by the GGD. Among people who were tested without a previous positive self-test, 6.0% tested positive for COVID-19.

Increase observed in all regions and in all age groups

The number of newly reported SARS-CoV-2 infections increased in all age groups (see Figure 1). The number of reported infections was highest in the age groups below 50 years old, with over 110 reported infections per 100,000 people. All security regions have shown an increase in the number of positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants. The highest numbers of positive tests were reported in the security regions of IJsselland (164), Gelderland-Midden (149), Hollands-Midden (147) and Gelderland-Zuid (131).

Figure 1: Number of reported positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants, by age group (30 August to 10 October 2021).

Hospital admissions

The number of people with COVID-19 who were admitted to hospital increased by +8% last week, rising to 281 hospital admissions. 71 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to ICU last week, 25 more than in the week before (+54%).

Reproduction number R

The latest reproduction number for 11 October**, based on the number of positive COVID-19 tests, is 1.12 (lower limit 1.07 – upper limit 1.17) and is now entirely above 1 for the first time since 10 July 2021. That means that 100 people who have COVID-19 right now will collectively infect another 112 new people. In other words, the virus is spreading faster again.

Increase also observed in sewage surveillance and Infectieradar

Infectieradar, the weekly national survey in which people report whether they have symptoms that could indicate COVID-19, is also showing an increase in the number of people who have potentially relevant symptoms. 

Coronavirus monitoring in sewage surveillance shows that the average number of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles has been increasing since the end of September. The national average rose towards the end of the final week in September. In the week of 27 September to 3 October, the average number of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles in sewage rose by 20% compared to the week before that. The initial sampling results for the week of 4-10 October indicate that levels have continued to increase, rising by nearly 25% compared to the week before that. More information about sewage surveillance can be found at Government.nl.

* Positive tests reported to RIVM between 5 October at 10:01 and 12 October 2021 at 10:00. The number of tests in GGD test lanes, hospital admissions and ICU admissions are shown by calendar week.