New coronavirus cases dropped below 5,000 for the first time in six days on Monday, according to latest figures from the public health agency RIVM.

Another 4,822 infections were recorded in the 24 hours to 10am, an 11% reduction on last Monday’s figure and the lowest daily total since December 1.

In the last week cases have declined by an average of 21.5% week on week. The positive test rate has also fallen to just over 11%.

However, the number of patients in hospital and in intensive care increased by 50 and 14 respectively on Monday. There are currently 2,434 people being treated for Covid-19, of whom 690 are in intensive care.

The RIVM recorded another 59 deaths, bringing the average number in the past seven days to 94, compared to 104 a week earlier. The number of nursing homes where the virus has been detected in the last two weeks has declined from 846 a week ago to 810.