Last week, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reported that it had registered 15,526 positive tests in seven days. This means that the number of confirmed infections has risen by 70 percent in a week. In two weeks, the number has nearly tripled.
According to the RIVM, the increase can be seen “throughout the Netherlands and among all age groups”. The increase is due to the emergence of new sub-variants of the omikron variant of the coronavirus. They are better able to circumvent the immune system, but it doesn’t seem to make people sicker. The number of infections is also increasing in Belgium and other countries.
Due to the new corona wave, more and more people are taking a test to confirm that they have been infected. The test streets in the Netherlands carried out just over 32,000 corona tests last week, more than the two previous weeks combined. Of those tests, 68 percent were positive, the highest percentage since early March.
The number of hospital admissions is also increasing. In the past week, 268 people ended up in hospital due to corona complaints, the highest number since the end of April. In 22 of them the complaints were so serious that they were admitted to intensive care. That is also the highest number since April.