The contamination figures for the past week are an indication that we must be alert, Aura Timen, head of the Center for National Coordination of Infectious Disease Control at the RIVM, told NU.nl on Tuesday. The number of confirmed infections rose by 5,427, more than 1,800 more than a week earlier.
Timen sees two explanations for the increase. “More people have been to the test streets again. The number of positive tests has also increased (from 2.2 to 2.8 percent, ed.). That means that more people have had themselves tested, but also that more people have actually been infected. people have joined. “
Where the RIVM was happy to announce last week that the number of new infections was fairly stable at about 500 per day, the institute now sees the numbers rise to an average of about 775 per day.
When asked where the new infections come from, Timen says that it is partly due to people who contracted the virus on vacation. “But what we still see is that the infections mainly take place in a home environment, at family visits and other gatherings.”
‘Virus is slowly spreading to other age groups’
Although most new infections are reported in the 20-29 age group, an increase is observed in all age groups. Timen: “The virus is slowly spreading to the elderly and other age groups.”
According to Timen, this can also be seen in the figures for the number of hospital admissions. The GGDs registered a decrease in the number of corona patients in hospital from 57 last week to 43 this week. So more people have left the hospital than have been added. But the number of new hospital admissions did increase in the past week: from 65 last week to 89 this week.
The number of confirmed deaths from the virus decreased further this week. Last week, the RIVM reported 24 deaths, this week that number dropped to 17.
At the same time, the reproduction number (R) rose from 0.99 to 1.17. This number is used to estimate how quickly the virus will spread. A value of 1.17 means that 100 people collectively infect 117 others. However, the reproduction number often fluctuates around 1, but according to Timen it is “something we have to keep an eye on”.
Are the new numbers a precursor to a second wave of the virus? “I don’t think there is a second wave,” said the RIVM top woman. “The new figures do mean that we have to do our utmost to stop the increase.”
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