Coronavirus admissions fall by 35% to lowest level since January

Hospital admissions for patients with coronavirus fell to their lowest level since January in the last week, according to latest official figures.

The public health agency RIVM said 1,110 new patients had been admitted in the seven days to April 5, 35% fewer than in the last week of March. Intensive care admissions fell by 32% to 81.

The last time the figures were at a lower level was in the week to January 23, a week after the first easing of restrictions following the December lockdown.

The RIVM said in its weekly bulletin that 21% of patients who tested positive in hospital and 19% of those in intensive care had originally been admitted for a different condition.

The number of infections in the last seven days was down by 45% on the previous week, while 61.3% of all tests were positive, compared to 65.4% the week before.

Infections were down by at least 35% in all age groups, with the highest concentration of cases in people in their thirties.

The RIVM also recorded 113 deaths in the last seven days, up from 104 the previous week. The actual number of deaths is believed to be significantly higher because local health services are not obliged to report Covid-19 deaths directly to the RIVM.