Weekly update on the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: 16 October 2024
Circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in the Netherlands increases slightly
Circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in the Netherlands increased slightly last week. In week 41 (7 – 13 October 2024), the national average viral load detected in wastewater surveillance increased slightly (+5.4%) compared to the week before that. The absolute average number of virus particles per 100,000 inhabitants is still at a relatively high level. The percentage of participants who tested positive for COVID-19 in the Infection Radar survey was last week stabilised at 1.5% last week, down from 1.4% in the previous week. The samples taken last week from some of the patients who saw their GP for respiratory symptoms showed SARS-CoV-2 in 6 of the 24 samples (15%). Based on the laboratories that reported positive SARS-CoV-2 tests in the weekly virological status reports last week, the number of positive tests increased compared to lab-reported positive tests in these laboratories last week.
Besides SARS-CoV-2, other viruses and bacteria can also cause respiratory infections. See the latest situation update on respiratory viruses in the Netherlands (in Dutch). The latest situation update on SARS-CoV-2 variants is available here.
Respiratory infection season 2024/2025
The new respiratory infection season has started and has been added to the charts displayed below. It starts in week 40 of 2024. The current update is about week 40, so some charts do not show any trends yet. However, the recent data can be viewed by dragging your mouse over the chart at week 40 or by looking at the underlying table.
Long-term symptoms
How long it takes for someone to recover from COVID-19 can differ from one person to another. Some people have long-term symptoms that persist after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is called post-COVID or Long COVID. Since 28 June 2024, a new research portal has been launched for people with post-COVID.
*The daily number of unique survey participants reporting a positive COVID-19 test, summed up for the entire calendar week (Monday through Sunday). The positive test result could come from a self-test, PCR test or rapid antigen test. The percentage of participants who get a COVID-19 test when they have symptoms may fluctuate over time. These results are not from the nose and throat swabs sent in through the self-test study that started in September 2022.
**On working days, the National Coordination Centre for Patient Distribution (LCPS) reports the number of newly admitted patients with SARS-CoV-2 in nursing wards between 10:00 on the previous day and 10:00 on the reporting day, and the number of beds occupied by patients with SARS-CoV-2 in the nursing wards and ICU wards at 10:00 on the reporting day. The day before the reporting day is considered to be the admission date. The average number of newly admitted patients in the nursing ward and the average number of beds occupied in the nursing ward and ICU per day for a calendar week (Monday to Sunday) is calculated by adding the number of patients or number of occupied beds per admission day in a calendar week and dividing by the number of admission days for which figures are reported.
Data of 2019/2020 season is available from week 14 of 2020. Week 53 of 2020 is not included in this figure.
Based on data available at RIVM on Wednesdays, as published in the open data and presented on the Coronavirus Dashboard. See the webpage about Sewage water surveillance for the most recent data. See the explanation of the data presented for more details about how these figures are calculated.
The daily number of unique survey participants reporting a positive COVID-19 test, summed up for the entire calendar week (Monday through Sunday). The positive test result could come from a self-test, PCR test or rapid antigen test. These results are not from the nose and throat swabs sent in through the self-test study that started in September 2022. Source: Infectieradar RIVM.
Posting schedule for COVID-19 updates
| Updates | When |
|---|---|
| Weekly update on the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 | Weekly on Wednesday afternoon |
| Even weeks on Wednesday afternoon | |
| Figures on vaccine effectiveness in preventing hospital admissions | The date of the next update has not yet been determined |
| Mortality figures | Weekly on Thursday afternoon |
| Figures on pathogen surveillance of virus variants | Even weeks on Wednesday afternoon |
| Figures on coronavirus monitoring in wastewater research | Weekly on Wednesday afternoon |
| RIVM provides access to the underlying data sets for various topics related to COVID-19. This includes data on reported cases of COVID-19, pathogen surveillance results, and sewage surveillance results. The data is publicly available to download. | |