In the week of 31 March to 6 April, 48,186 people in the Netherlands received a positive test result for COVID-19. That is a decrease of 7% compared to the week before. The number of tests decreased by 10% in the past week compared to the week before. This decrease may be because fewer people went to get tested during Easter weekend. It will become clear in the next few days if the downward trend will also be reflected in the number of positive test results. The percentage of people who tested positive for COVID-19 rose by 8.9%, compared to 8.5% in the week before that. The reproduction number is now just above 1. The number of new patients admitted to ICU with COVID-19 in the past week increased by nearly 20% in the past week. The number of new COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital was about the same as in the week before (-3%).
Testing positive for COVID-19
More than 498,000 people were tested for SARS-CoV-2 in the GGD test lanes in the past calendar week, and the test results are known for nearly 497,000 of them. This is a decrease of nearly 54,000 tests (-10%) compared to the week before that.
From 31 March to 6 April, 276 people per 100,000 inhabitants received a positive test result for COVID-19. That figure was 298 positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants in the week before that. More than 350 people per 100,000 inhabitants tested positive for COVID-19 in the security regions of Limburg-Noord and Zuid-Holland-Zuid.
The downward trend in number of positive test results can be observed in all age categories. The largest relative decrease was in the age groups under 18 years (-11%) and over 80 years (-15%). The number of reported positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants in the past week was only lower than in week 11 in the age group of 80 years and older.
Figure 1: Number of reported positive tests per age category per week.
Hospital admissions and ICU admissions
1,588 people with COVID-19 were admitted to hospital in the past week. That is 45 fewer than the week before (-3%). 376 people became so ill that they had to be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). That is 59 more new ICU admissions than the week before (+19%). Pressure on hospitals and hospital employees remains as high as before (source: NICE Foundation).
Reproduction number at 1.01
On 22 March, the reproduction number was 1.01 (lower limit 0.99 – upper limit 1.03). That means that 100 people with COVID-19 will collectively infect another 101 people. There were nearly 154,000 contagious people on 29 March.
Follow the measures, even after testing negative
If everyone follows the basic measures, even if you just tested negative for COVID-19 or did a self-test, then fewer people will be infected and it will be possible to relax the measures sooner. Stay 1.5 metres from others, stay home if you have symptoms, get tested, and keep washing your hands regularly. This is how we can stop the coronavirus from spreading.