The number of newly reported coronavirus infections in the Netherlands rose by 7,833 in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, further confirming that measures introduced two weeks ago have not had an impact.

The Thursday total is up 537 on Wednesday and takes the average daily number of positive tests in the past week to 6,884, over 3,000 more than a week ago.

In total, 313 patients are now being treated in IC wards, and 1,526 people are in hospital, a rise of 51 on Wednesday. The daily death toll, now averaging around 23 people a day, is also showing a significant rise on a week ago.

Ernst Kuipers, head of the national patient distribution centre said the continued increase in positive tests is a ‘crying shame’.

‘It does not yet seem to have gotten through to people that we are dealing with more than 7,000 infections a day.’

On Tuesday the government introduced a raft of new measures, describing them as a ‘partial lockdown’. Ministers are also working on rules so it will be possible to make face masks mandatory.

The new measures, which include closure of all cafes, bars and restaurants for four weeks, will be assessed in two weeks’ time to see if there is any improvement. If not the government says it will impose a total lockdown.