The official death toll from coronavirus in the Netherlands rose by two on Wednesday, but both patients died earlier in the month, new figures from the public health institute RIVM show.

There have now been no deaths on four days in seven days to June 24, and 11 deaths in total during this period, the RIVM figures show. This can still change because of the time lag in reporting.

A further six people are now on list of patients admitted to hospital, four of whom have been hospitalised in the past week, the RIVM said.

The number of positive coronavirus tests rose by 83 to 49,804. On Tuesday it emerged that the positive test rate is now below 1%.

The first results of the RIVM’s research into coronavirus in sewage confirm that the virus is declining.

The RIVM has been testing sewage at 29 locations to map the spread of the novel Covid-19 since the beginning of April.

The virus was found at least once in the period April and May at each location studied but has become less frequent as time moves on.