Dutch hospitals have begun scaling up the number of intensive care beds from 1,150 to 1,250, but note this will have an impact on care elsewhere.

The number of IC patients must always be below maximum capacity because 188 beds nationwide must be kept free for emergencies. That total is now not being reached and one in three hospitals are now delaying non urgent treatment because of the beds shortage.

On Sunday, there were 1,029 patients being treated in a Dutch IC unit, of whom 598 have coronavirus.