The strong fluctuations in the number of positive coronavirus tests continued at the weekend, with Saturday’s total dropping nearly 1,300 to 4,499, only for 5,609 cases to be reported on Sunday, figures from public health institute RIVM show.

At the same, the number of hospital admissions fell on Sunday, and just 18 people were admitted to intensive care wards. There are now 1,700 coronavirus patients in hospital, of whom 506 are in IC, as more people are discharged than admitted.

The RIVM and regional health boards say the daily figures do not give a proper indication of how coronavirus is spreading in the Netherlands because they do not take testing patterns into account.

More tests are carried out at the beginning of the week which means the number of positive tests is likely to be higher on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, a health board spokeswoman told broadcaster NOS

At the same time, the proportion of positive tests is slightly higher at the weekend. ‘We think this is because people who have a test at the weekend may have more serious symptoms,’ the spokeswoman said. ‘People are giving up one of their days off, and then they may really feel that something is wrong.’

IT problems have also caused fluctuations in the results flow, but those are now largely under control, she said.

‘The daily figures don’t show a trend. If you want to see a trend, you need to look at th weekly figures,’ RIVM spokeman Harald Wychgel told the broadcaster.