Just over 55,000 people tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the smallest daily total for more than two weeks, according to the RIVM.

The figure of 55,116 was 29% lower than last Monday, while the percentage of positive tests was 57.7%, down from a peak of 61.4% on February 4.

The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital went up by 72 on Monday to 1,554, but the week-on-week increase of 4.1% was the smallest since the end of January. There are currently 181 patients in intensive care, 15% fewer than a week ago.

The public health agency recorded an average of 11 coronavirus-related deaths per day over the last seven days, up from 9 a week ago.