The Netherlands reported a new record number of coronavirus patients on Thursday, but the real total is likely to be higher because of IT failings, public health institute RIVM said.

In total 24,700 new cases were registered in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, up 139 on Wednesday. Despite the computer problems, the new total means the number of cases has risen 50% over the past seven days, when compared to the week earlier period.

New cases may be going up, but the number of people being treated in hospital for coronavirus continues to decline, falling by 93 to 1,541 on Thursday, according to hospital patient data.

The number of intensive care patients went down by 30 overnight to 419, the biggest drop in IC occupancy since June 1, 2021. Ten Dutch IC patients are still being treated in Germany. 

In total, 109 new patients were admitted to hospital, of whom 12 were sent to an IC ward overnight.

The number of hospital patients has been trending downwards since mid December, but government health advisors say they expect a new peak in mid January, when people suffering from the Omicron variant of coronavirus start to be admitted in large numbers.

Cautious

However, healthcare professor and former London hospital chief Marcel Levi told radio programme Dit is de dag that the Netherlands is currently the ‘most cautious child in the class’.

‘Other countries do not have a lockdown at the moment and things are not getting out of hand in hospitals,’ he said. Omicron, he said, is infecting a lot of people but is not making them particularly sick.

Non-essential shops, cafes and bars, and museums have all been closed since December 19 when the government announced tough measures to try to brake the spread of the virus while the booster campaign got up to speed.

Some 30% of people have now had a booster dose, according to government figures.