The RIVM has released its weekly coronavirus figures from January 11 to January 18 — and the number of infections has continued to grow.
Over the past week, the RIVM has reported 242,961 new infections in the Netherlands. This is a significant increase compared to last week’s report of 201,536 infections.
The percentage of positive tests has slightly increased, with 36.8% compared to 34.2% from the week before.
Deaths
The number of patients who have died from coronavirus-related complications has significantly dropped compared to the past week. This week, 63 people passed away, compared to 116 people the previous week.
Hospitalisations
The number of admissions to the nursing ward and the ICU have also continued to decrease. The past week saw 553 new admissions to the nursing ward and 94 new patients in the ICU.
The week before, there were 146 patients and 116 patients respectively.
The Netherlands comes out of hard lockdown… sort of
In the first press conference of the year (and by the new Dutch cabinet), Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that it was still too risky to completely reopen the country.
But just days before the next press conference, the OMT advised the Dutch cabinet to relax measures for the retail, education, and sports sectors — and the Dutch government took the advice.
Especially after protests and backing from local municipalities, shops across the country get a major break and non-essential shops are reopening at limited times.
Other sectors suffering
Restaurants, museums, and other cultural institutions will remain closed — but not without a fight. The Dutch cultural sector is working on a lawsuit against the government for its coronavirus restrictions, hoping to relax restrictions for them too.
Walk-in vaccination appointments possible
As promised last week, the GGD (Municipal Health Services) has announced that walk-in appointments are available throughout all of the Netherlands. Anyone can walk into a vaccination location for their first, second, or booster jab as long as they bring an ID and a face mask.
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Feature Image: Anna Shvets/Pexels
