Fewer than 1,000 coronavirus cases in a day were reported for the first time in nine months on Monday.

The public health agency RIVM said 899 more people had tested positive for the virus, 167 fewer than on Sunday and 37.6% below last Monday’s figure.

In the last seven days confirmed cases have come down by 38.1% and the percentage of positive tests has fallen to 5.6%, the lowest proportion since mid-September.

The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital rose slightly for the second day in a row to 681, five more than on Sunday, while 263 people are being treated in intensive care, a decline of two.

Patient numbers tend to stall or increase at the weekend because fewer people are discharged from hospital, but the strong downward trend in infections is expected to filter through to the wards in the coming weeks.

Ministers are considering bringing forward the next step in relaxing the pandemic restrictions by four days to June 26 in response to the positive trend, NOS reported on Monday.

In the last seven days an average of 41 coronavirus patients a day were admitted to hospital, just above the government’s ‘trigger level’ of 40, while seven people were taken into intensive care, below the trigger level of 10.

Another three deaths were confirmed on Monday, while the average number of reported deaths per day has fallen since last week from eight to five.

The RIVM’s dashboard figure states that 17,714 people have died from contracting coronavirus since March 2020, but the statistics agency CBS has calculated on the basis of death certificates that the virus was responsible for 27,000 deaths in the first 12 months of the pandemic.