THE BILT Last week, a slight decrease was seen in the number of new reports of COVID-19 infections, namely 33,949 new reports, compared to 36,931 new reports in the week before (-8%). The reproduction number is still about 1. The main cause of infection is still contact at home between family and housemates.
The reproduction number of November 13 is 1.04 (1.02-1.07) and is roughly the same as the week before. This is still too high for a significant decrease in the number of infections. A reproduction number of 1.04 means that every 100 people with the virus infect 104 people. The estimated number of contagious people is more than 100 thousand (lower limit: 72,500; upper limit 129,000) comparable to the previous week.
NUMBER OF HOSPITAL AND ICU ADMISSIONS FALLING The number of people admitted to hospital or intensive care for COVID-19 has decreased last week. The number of hospital admissions was 1,007 (compared to 1291 admissions in the previous week). The number of IC admissions was 183 in the past week (compared to 193 the week before). Although these numbers are declining slightly, hospital and intensive care admissions are about the same as the numbers in the first half of October, when it was decided that additional measures are needed to reduce the spread.
SITUATIONS OF POSSIBLE CONTAMINATION In November, about half of the newly tested positively (week 45: 47% and week 48: 52%) was known in which situation the infection probably took place (see figure 1). The vast majority of these infections took place at home between family members and housemates (over 50%). Visits from friends or family still score high as a possible cause of infections. “Ask visitors to wash their hands upon arrival and always keep a minimum distance of 1.5 meters from each other”, according to the RIVM.
WORK AT HOME Work is still in third place for possible contamination. It is therefore important to work from home as much as possible to prevent infections. Although most people who can work from home work from home three quarters of that time, this number seems to be declining somewhat.
From 23 to 29 November, 258,874 tests were taken in the GGD test streets, of which the test results are known. That is over 7,000 more than the week before. Of this group, 28,700 (11.1%) persons tested positive. Test capacity has grown rapidly in recent weeks. A test administration can now almost always take place within a few hours.
TEST AFTER 5 DAYS QUARANTAINE As of today, people in quarantine can have themselves tested 5 days after their last contact with a patient. In case of a negative result, one may be taken out of quarantine. This also applies to people who have received a notification from the Coronamelder app. However, it is important that people go into quarantine again and have themselves tested if complaints do occur later. The capacity in the test lanes is currently more than sufficient to handle this extra flow of people to be tested.
In all age groups a decrease in the number of COVID-19 reports per 100,000 inhabitants can be seen compared to the previous week. The number of reports in the 13-17 age group last week is still higher than in week 45 and week 46.
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