All the weekly COVID-19 figures are presented in a table and in graphs on the RIVM website.

Hospital admissions and ICU admissions

The National Intensive Care Evaluation (NICE) Foundation recorded 1,833 new hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients in the past week. That is 19% more than in the week before. Nearly half of the COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital were in the age group of 60-79 years (46% of all admissions in that week).

289 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to the intensive care units, which is 60 more new patients than last week (+26%). More than half of the new ICU admissions were patients aged 60-79 years (58% of all ICU admissions in that week), followed by patients aged 40-59 years (33%).

There are regional differences in hospital admissions. Looking at hospital admissions in relation to the number of people living in the region, the highest numbers of people with COVID-19 admitted to hospital in the last calendar week were observed in the regions of Limburg-Zuid, Limburg-Noord, Brabant-Zuidoost, Gelderland-Zuid and Fryslân.

Vaccination status of people with COVID-19 admitted to hospital

The chance that a fully vaccinated person with COVID-19 will be admitted to hospital is much lower than for a non-vaccinated person. On 18 November, RIVM published an update on the vaccination status of people admitted to hospital with COVID-19. It included the latest results from the study on how well the vaccines protect against serious illness.

Increase in positive COVID-19 tests continues

153,957 positive test results were reported last week; this is the highest number of positive SARS-CoV-2 tests recorded in one week in this country (counting from 1 June 2020, when everyone in the Netherlands could get tested for SARS-CoV-2). Compared to one week before, the number of newly reported infections rose by 39%. Per 100,000 inhabitants, 862 people received a positive test result. More than half a million people (629,349) were tested by the Municipal Public Health Services (GGDs), 13% more than in the week before that. The percentage of people who tested positive for COVID-19 rose in the past week from 19.6% to 22.2%, including GGD tests to confirm a positive self-test. All age groups and security regions have shown an increase in the number of reported positive tests (Figure 1). The highest numbers of positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants were reported in the security regions of Limburg-Zuid (1,240), Zuid-Holland-Zuid (1,108), Zeeland (1,088), Limburg-Noord (1,030) and Gelderland-Midden (990).

Figure 1: Number of reported positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants, by age group (11 October to 21 November 2021).

Highest numbers of reported infections among children

The number of newly reported SARS-CoV-2 infections increased in all age groups, with the highest numbers of positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants reported among children aged 0-12 years: 1,275 per 100,000 inhabitants (see Figure 1). The number of reported positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants was highest among children aged 7-11 years (Figure 2). Compared to the age group of 7-11 years, the number of reported positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants was significantly lower among the age group of 12-19 years. That difference is partly due to the fact that children under 12 are not vaccinated and can have direct contact without restrictions. More than 60% of children aged 12-17 years are fully vaccinated.

Figure 2: Number of reported positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants, by age up to 19 years old (11 October to 21 November 2021).

Reproduction number R 

The most recent reproduction number based on positive COVID-19 tests is for 8 November, and remained the same as the week before, staying steady at 1.21 (lower limit 1.20 – upper limit 1.23). That means that 100 people who have COVID-19 will collectively infect another 121 new people.

* Positive tests reported to RIVM between 16 November 2021 at 10:01 and 23 November 2021 at 10:00. The number of tests in GGD test lanes, hospital admissions and ICU admissions are shown by calendar week.