The number of coronavirus patients in hospital went up by 16% on Monday as the explosive growth in infections at the start of July continued to be felt in the healthcare system.

A total of 361 are being treated for Covid-19, up by 50 from Sunday, of whom 84 are in intensive care. On July 8, 11 days ago, the number of patients dropped to 196, its lowest level since last September.

The public health agency RIVM reported another 8,932 positive cases in the last 24 hours, accounting for 13.9% of all tests. The figure is 5.8% higher than last Monday, while in the last seven days cases have increased by an average of 89.5%.

The positive test rate has stabilised at around 14% in the last few days, having increased from around 3% since the end of June.

More cases are being found in nursing homes, with 54 locations reporting an infection in the last 14 days, compared to 24 a week ago.

The RIVM confirmed two more deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, in line with the average for the last week.