The official Dutch death rate from coronavirus neared 5,000 on Friday after rising by 98 in the public health institute RIVM’s latest daily update.

The number of people admitted to hospital rose by 85 to 10,854 while a further 475 people have tested positive for the disease. The total number of positive tests is now almost 40,000.

At the same time, new figures based on total deaths show that the current mortality rate in the Netherlands is far higher than would have been expected.

In the week to April 2020, 4,036 people died. This is between 1,100 and 1,405 more than would have been expected for the time of year and 1.6 times more than the number of official Covid-19 deaths.

The death rate was particularly high among the over 65s, the RIVM said. At the same time, the number of people dying in nursing and residential care homes has gone down again, as renewed efforts to stop the spread of the virus take effect.

The exact impact of coronavirus on the mortality rate will only be apparent when causes of death are looked at in detail, the RIVM said.

The Financial Times said earlier this week the real death toll from coronavirus is likely to be around 40% higher than the official statistic.