A total of 22,089 new cases of coronavirus were reported to public health institute RIVM in the 24 hours to Saturday morning, the fifth day in a row that the number of infections has been around the 22,000 mark.

On average, 22,294 new cases have been reported a day over the past week, a rise of 13% on the previous week, the RIVM said. Just over one in five people testing for the virus are getting a positive result.

Although the coronavirus infection rate may be levelling off, more people are being hospitalised. In the past 24 hours, 354 people were admitted to hospital, increasing total patient numbers by 26.

Taking patients who have been sent home into account, there are now 2,624 people being treated for coronavirus in hospital, of whom 555 are in an intensive care ward.