The Dutch death toll from coronavirus rose by 132 to 771 overnight, the RIVM public health institute said in its Sunday update.

At the same time, the number of hospital admissions rose by 529 to 3,483 and the total number of positive tests rose by 1,104 to 10,866.

The RIVM said again that the totals are lower than they would have been if the government had not taken action to curb social contacts.

Vulnerable patients

The figures published on a daily basis by the RIVM give information about the position of the most vulnerable patients, the agency said in a promotional video.

Welke informatie geven de huidige cijfers over het #coronavirus? Waarom zijn cijfers over de besmettingen in Nederland belangrijk? En waarom is niet bekend hoeveel mensen genezen zijn van #COVID19? 👇📽️

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— RIVM (@rivm) March 29, 2020

‘We know their age, their sex and if they have other health problems, such as heart disease or diabetes’ the spokeswoman said.

The RIVM does not have recovery figures because local health boards are busy trying to prevent the further spread of the disease and don’t have the manpower to ask everyone if they have recovered, the spokeswoman said.

Germany

Two Dutch coronavirus patients have been moved to Germany where there is more room in intensive care wards.

The two were being treated at the Isala hospital in Zwolle but have now been moved to a hospital in Munster, 130 kilometres. They have been moved because the Zwolle hospital is expected a rise in patients in the coming says.

Work is still ongoing to expand the number of IC beds in Dutch hospitals and the number of confirmed or suspected corona patients being treated in the specialist units reached 975 on Sunday, according to new figures from the Dutch intensive care association.

Some 71% of corona patients in ICU units are over the age of 60 and just 3% are under the age of 40, the NICE figures show.

Masks

Meanwhile, a shipment of 600,000 face masks imported to the Netherlands from China is being recalled from Dutch hospitals because they are not up to the job, broadcaster NOS reported.

The shipment is part of an order for 1.3 million masks used by healthcare staff treating people who are very seriously ill with coronavirus. According to the health ministry, the masks either do not fit properly to the face or the membrane filters don’t work.

Hospitals raised the alarm about the masks and asked the TNO research institute to test them, NOS said.

‘There is a lot of rubbish on the market and some people are trying to profit from the crisis by asking high prices,’ one hospital spokesman told the broadcaster.