The speed at which the coronavirus is spreading is rising again. The so-called reproduction number rose to 1.21 on Friday. That is the highest level since the end of February. The number of confirmed infections is also increasing, but according to the RIVM, it is too early to say that a new corona wave is on the way.
A reproduction number of 1.21 means that 100 people who have corona will infect an average of 121 others. They in turn infect 146 people, who then transmit the virus to about 177 people.
With each step, the number of infected people increases, and with it the risk of infecting others. The further the number gets above 1, the faster the virus spreads. In July last year, during the ‘dancing with Janssen’ wave, the reproduction number reached a record high of 3.
RIVM registered 2,235 positive corona tests between Thursday morning and Friday morning. The day before, there were 2,440 new cases. That is the largest number since April. The average has risen by more than 75 percent in the last two weeks.
People no longer have to go to a test street to discover whether they have been infected, a home test is sufficient. But if you want to, you can still have a test carried out. More and more people are doing this. The GGDs have carried out an average of more than two thousand tests a day in the past week, almost 50 percent more than two weeks ago.
Subvariants do not appear to cause additional health problems
The omikron variant of the coronavirus is still by far the most common, but something is shifting within that variant. The new sub-variants BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 are emerging. This is at the expense of the first omikron variants.
BA.2.12.1 could become dominant in the course of June. But “it is currently very unclear which omikron subvariant is spreading the fastest and will gain the upper hand,” according to RIVM. earlier this week. The institute also says that there is no indication that people develop more serious complaints from the new subvariants.
RIVM mainly monitors the development of the virus through measurements of sewage water. In Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague there are relatively many virus particles in the sewage water.
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