A further 124 people have been admitted to hospital in the Netherlands suffering from coronavirus, the public health institute RIVM said in its Wednesday update. This takes the total number of people who have been hospitalised since the epidemic began to 10,021.

The official death toll rose by 138, down on Tuesday’s figure but higher than those reported at the weekend. In total, 4,054 people have been confirmed dead due to coronavirus, although the real total is likely to be far higher.

The number of tests carried out on a weekly basis has now increased to some 40,000, the RIVM said, of which around 30% turn out to be positive. Since the start of the outbreak, nearly 35,000 people have been confirmed to have the virus.

Meanwhile, the number of registered coronavirus deaths in nursing homes has risen by 200 over the past week to 841 and there are almost 3,000 confirmed cases, according to new figures from the geriatric medicine association Verenso. A further 3,400 home residents are thought to have the disease.

This means the total number of infections in nursing homes has risen by as much as 1,000 in a week, Verenso said, adding that the registrations are voluntary and incomplete.

Some 120,000 people in the Netherlands live in residential care.

The government on Tuesday extended the ban on visits to nursing homes until at least May 20, saying the measure is necessary to protect vulnerable people.

Nursing homes have also complained about the shortage of face masks and other equipment to stop the spread of the virus. However, RIVM chief Jaap van Dissel said again on Wednesday that care workers should only wear masks on wards where coronavirus is present.

Intensive care

Figures published on Tuesday show a further drop of 71 in the number of patients being treated in intensive care.

‘This is a good sign because it means regular healthcare can be started up again,’ Ernst Kuipers of the national coordination centre said. There are now 1087 coronavirus patients in Dutch intensive care wards and a further 48 in Germany.

At its high point, more than 100 people a day were being admitted to IC wards.