Most in the Province of Groningen are in the City of Groningen, whilst Coevorden and the Gemeente Leeuwarden are hotspots in Drenthe and Friesland
According to GGD Groningen, 149 patients currently have been tested positive for the Coronavirus in the province of Groningen. Figures from the RIVM (on March 29) suggest that 86 of those patients live in the City of Groningen, reports the GIC. The GGD in Friesland says that (as of March 29) there are another 22 confirmed infections to make a total of 118, and the GGD Drenthe has confirmed 107 cases, with three deaths.
The GGD Groningen, like those in Friesland and Drenthe, is publishing the number of infections each day.
According to the Groningen-based microbiologist Alex Friedrich, it seems that the measures taken are working in Groningen. A week earlier, there were between 65 and 70 infections in the Province. In the city of Groningen the number was 46 at the time. The growth in the number of infections seems to be levelling off.
In the provinces North Holland and South Holland in particular, the number of infections is increasing faster than in the rest of the country. In North Brabant; where the most infections are, growth appears to be leveling off too.
RIVM announced on Sunday that the number of infections in The Netherlands has risen to 10,866 (+1,104) and the number of deaths is now at 771 (+132). A week earlier, there were only 4,204 infections and 179 deceased patients in the Netherlands.
About one hundred new patients are admitted to intensive care every day. A developing problem is that many patients will require intensive care for a longer period of time, which threatens to cause a shortage of beds.
There are 109 patients in hospital in the entire Province of Groningen, 37 of whom are in intensive care. The UMCG is currently treating 44 patients with confirmed Coronavirus infections, and 26 of them are in intensive care. The rest are being tended to in a special ward. Only one patient has died in the hospital.
The UMCG also tested 1,875 employees on Sunday, 75 of whom were found to have the virus.
The RIVM says: “As has been reported in recent days, the number of hospitalised patients and the number of deaths are increasing less than you would expect without measures. In a few days’ time, it will be possible to conclude whether there has been a real flattening of the number of hospitalised patients and the number of deaths among reported patients, and thus how well the measures taken are working. ”
