Coronavirus infections declined by 21% in the last week, but scientists warn the Omicron variant could trigger a new surge in hospital admissions.

The number of patients admitted to hospital with the virus was down by 10% in the last week, falling to 1,878, while intensive care admissions dropped by 4%. However, the number of reported deaths increased by 25% to 445.

The RIVM said 105 cases of the Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa, had been confirmed in the Netherlands, including 15 who had no direct link with southern Africa.

‘The higher infectiousness of this variant will lead to more infections in the coming weeks, which may lead to an increase in the number of hospital admissions,’ the RIVM said in its latest weekly bulletin.

The infection rate is highest in primary school-age children, with 1,513 positive tests per 100,000 people among children aged five to 9 and 1,249 cases per 100,000 in the 10-14 age group.

The overall infection rate is 655 per 100,000, with high numbers of cases also recorded among people aged 35 to 44.

Positive tests declined more or less evenly across all age groups, except for children under five, where the number was down by just 5.9%.

23.4% positive

The number of people who took a PCR test at their local health service was down by 27%, while the percentage of positive tests went up from 21.3% to 23.4%. Since the start of December people with mild symptoms have been advised to take a self-test first, unless they are at high risk or come into contact with vulnerable people.

The RIVM said the increased use of self-testing kits could push up the positivity rate because 83% of positive self-tests are confirmed by a PCR test. Just over one in eight (12.7%) of positive PCR tests followed a self-test, compared to 10.5% last week.

Around the 25 GGD health board regions the infection rate varied from 476 per 100,000 in Groningen to 825 in Zeeland.