New figures showing total death rates in the Netherlands continue to indicate far more people have died than statistics would indicate, the public health institute RIVM said on Friday.

In the week to April 29, 3,580 people died, between 667 and 971 more than would have been expected in normal circumstances, the RIVM said. That week 533 people officially died of coronavirus, meaning several hundred other deaths may also be due to the disease but not reported as such.

How many people actually died of coronavirus can only be finalised once official causes of death have been studied, the RIVM said. The figures are in line with trends reported earlier.

The increased death rate was reported across the whole of the country, apart from the three northern provinces.

The national statistics office CBS has also looked in more detail at the number of deaths in nursing and long-term care homes. In the week to April 26, almost 50% more people died than in the first 10 weeks of the year, indicating again that coronavirus is killing more people than on the official register.

On Friday the RIVM said the official death toll had risen by 71 to 5,359. A further 35 people were admitted to hospital.