Around 900 more people died in the week to November 21 than statisticians had expected, national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

In total, almost 3,850 died that week, when fewer than 3,000 deaths would have been considered normal, the CBS said.

In particular, there were more deaths among the over 80s, although the increase is across all age groups. People living in residential care were also more affected.

The number of excess deaths has been rising since mid October, the CBS said. CBS figures are based on actual reports, but without information about possible causes. These are collected later on official death certificates.

The statistics office has also studied causes of death up to the end of June and concluded that at least 31,384 people have died of coronavirus in the Netherlands since the start of the pandemic.

How many people have actually died from coronavirus in the Netherlands?

Public health institute RIVM continues to record a much lower death toll, based on people who are positive in an official test and subsequently die. The Dutch government reports this ‘total number of COVID-19 patients reported dead’, currently 19,158, on its Coronavirus dashboard.