The number of people being treated in hospital for coronavirus has fallen by 20% in the last seven days, according to the public health agency RIVM’s latest figures.

On Thursday morning there were 1,512 patients in total, including 971 on the wards – the lowest figure since October 10 – and 541 in intensive care. A week ago there were 1,899 patients altogether, 621 of whom were in intensive care.

Another 3,426 infections were recorded on Thursday morning, while the seven-day average figure declined to 3,172. Infections tend to be higher towards the end of the week because fewer people report for testing at the weekend.

The positive test rate in the last seven days declined to 9.6%, the first time in five weeks that it has been below 10%.

Another 16 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, while the weekly average is unchanged from last Thursday at 13. The number of nursing homes with a new infection in the last 14 days has fallen in the past week from 132 to 106.