Photo: ANP
Only fourteen people have tested positive for an infection with the monkeypox virus in the past week. That is the lowest number since the end of May. The virus is finding it increasingly difficult to infect new people.
The number of new cases has fallen for the eighth week in a row. At the end of July, 166 infections came to light in a week, an average of more than twenty per day.
A total of 1,209 people in the Netherlands have now tested positive for the virus. A week ago, the counter stood at 1195 confirmed infections. Yet it is still too early to say whether the end of the epidemic is in sight, according to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
The region of North Holland and Flevoland has the most reported positive tests. The number of cases there increased by 9 to 707 in the past week. Two infections came to light in the province of South Holland. The counter there now stands at 201. The province of Utrecht and the regions North and East each had one new positive test.
Most people who tested positive are men who have sex with men (MSM). Part of that group has therefore been able to get preventive vaccinations against the corona virus for a while. About 32,000 people have been invited. They get two shots. So far 16,982 shots have been taken. That is 1779 more than last week. RIVM does not yet know how many people have accepted the vaccination invitation.
Fifteen women have tested positive for the virus. Sixteen people have been hospitalized because of the complaints that can arise after being infected with monkey pox.