The number of people being treated in hospital for coronavirus dipped under 2,000 in the 24 hours to Friday morning, according to new figures.

In total, 217 new patients were admitted to hospital, but with discharges outstripping new admissions, the total number of coronavirus patients fell to 1,961. Of them, 547  are being treated in intensive care, down seven on the previous day’s total.

The number of new infections remains difficult to ascertain following computer problems earlier in the week.

In the 24 hours to Friday morning, 5,974 new cases were registered with public health institute RIVM. On Thursday, there were 5,720 new cases, but officials said about a thousand of those were from previous days.

Nevertheless, the infection rate would appear to be stabilising rather than continuing the downward trend, with an average of 5,250 positive tests a day over the past week. In the previous week, the daily average was 5,550.

The death rate too has stabilised, averaging 67 a day for the past week, unchanged from the earlier seven day period. However, these figures only include people who have tested positive for coronavirus and the excess death rate would indicate the figure is higher.

In the past week, 3,600 people died nationwide, some 670 more than statistics would indicate. Most of these deaths are likely to be attributable to coronavirus.