Hospital admissions of coronavirus patients per 100,000 people in the Netherlands. (RIVM graphics)
AMSTERDAM--The Dutch death toll from the coronavirus COVID-19 increased by 166 in the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment’s RIVM’s latest update, taking the total to 1,339.
The number of hospital admissions was up 625 to 5,784 while there were more than 1,000 more positive tests.
The deaths and hospital-admission figures are sharply higher than in Wednesday’s update, but the RIVM warns that official reporting times may lag.
In addition, the figures continue to be lower than they would have been without the government’s social-distancing measures.
Meanwhile, experts have suggested that a large number of the rules currently in place to combat coronavirus could last for months, Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported on Thursday. “I think it will be in July at the earliest before there is more room to move,” a Leiden University virologist said.
The RIVM has not made any concrete predictions, but its infectious diseases chief Jaap van Dissel told Members of the Dutch Parliament on Wednesday that he expects the pressure on intensive-care facilities to hit a peak in May and only to drop below 1,200 – the current level – in mid-July.
“You have to stick with a lot of measures until you have the virus really under control, because as soon as you stop, the spread will only increase again,” Van Dissel said.
One hopeful sign is the fact that the more is known about the disease, the better the measures can be targeted, Groningen virologist Bert Niesters said. However, it will be a long time before the cinemas can reopen and music festivals can take place, he said.
