A total of 7,575 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported to public health institute RIVM on Friday.

That is 758 more than on Thursday although the general trend is still downward. The average number of positive tests over the past week is 7,133, which is down 3% on the previous seven day period.

Officials have suggested that the King’s Day festivities on April 27 may be responsible for the slowdown in the decline.

There are, however, indications of improvement in terms of hospital admissions. According to the national patient coordination centre, 2,521 people are currently being treated in hospital, the lowest number in two weeks.

Of them, 797 are in intensive care wards, the first time that figure has dipped below 800 in three weeks.

Fewer people are also being admitted to hospital – 1,621 over the past seven days, compared with 1,866 in the week earlier period, or a drop of 13%

The government’s Outbreak Management Team has advised against any further relaxation of the coronavirus rules until hospital admissions have gone down by 20%.

Vaccinations

Almost six million doses of vaccine have now been administered in the Netherlands, according to the government’s coronavirus dashboard. The figure is an estimate, based on the forecast of 102,000 currently being carried out a day.

Some 77% of vaccinations carried out in the Netherlands are now being included in the national vaccination register, according to the RIVM.  Two weeks ago, government health experts warned that only around two-thirds of vaccinations were being recorded because of slow reporting by hospitals and healthcare institutes, and by family doctors.

Meanwhile, Utrecht’s regional health board says it is pleased with the results of an experiment to open the Jaarbeurs test centre until midnight. ‘We can do it, and there is demand, so we have a realistic scenario when the bulk vaccine orders come in,’ a spokesman told local broadcaster RTV Utrecht.