Nine Dutch healthcare workers have died of coronavirus, officials say

Healthcare workers account for around one third of the total reported cases of coronavirus in the Netherlands, and 58% of hospital patients aged 18 to 69, the public health institute RIVM said on Thursday.

In total, 39,316 people have tested positive for the virus in the Netherlands, with care workers up to the age of 69 accounting for 13,884 of them. Testing in the Netherlands is largely confined to doctors, nurses and other care workers as well as people showing serious symptoms of the disease.

In total, 458 hospital workers have themselves been admitted to hospital with coronavirus and nine have died. At least six of the nine had underlying health conditions, the RIVM said, and all were aged at least 45.

The agency did not give any further details, but did say it is unclear where they picked up the virus.

Meanwhile, the official Covid-19 death toll has risen by 84 to 4,795, the RIVM said in its Thursday update. The figure only includes people who have tested positive for the disease and the real total could be some 40% higher.

A further 84 people have been admitted to hospital, taking the total number of hospital admissions to 10,769. Some 7,000 people have been discharged, having made a full recovery.