A total of 16,287 new coronavirus cases were reported to national health institute RIVM in the 24 hours to Friday morning, down slightly on Thursday’s figure but still higher than the average daily total over the past week.

Almost 18% of people tested in a regional health board testing centre are positive for coronavirus, and the infection rate is now 93.5 per 100,000 people, the highest value since the pandemic began.

Most new cases – 688 – were recorded in Amsterdam, followed by Rotterdam (482) and Utrecht (244). The government is due to announce a new package of measures to bring down the infection rate on Friday evening.

A further 259 people were hospitalized with coronavirus in the 24 hours to Friday morning, the biggest increase since May 15.

The new arrivals take the total number of people in hospital with coronavirus to 1,755 and the number of new admissions has now risen for 31 days in a row.

Earlier this week a number of hospitals sounded the alarm, saying that regular patient care is now being affected by the number of coronavirus cases and that they may soon be forced to decide who to treat.

The hospital numbers, although rising, are still well down on May 2020 when nearly 1,400 coronavirus patients were being treated in an IC unit.