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Pressure on hospitals But there was relief among hospital staff, who were dismayed to hear last week that the government was looking to ease restrictions while nearly three-quarters of intensive care beds are occupied by coronavirus patients. On Sunday 8,288 more infections were announced, the highest daily number for two weeks, while more than 2,500 people are being treated in hospital for the virus, of whom 788 are in intensive care. Ad Melkert, chairman of the board of the Dutch hospitals’ association NVZ, said: ‘This is tough for people who had hoped for or counted on restrictions being eased. But they are still badly needed, because it’s all hands on deck in our hospitals. ‘First we need to get the virus under control, get more people vaccinated and reduce the pressure on hospitals. Then we can slowly but surely start returning to normal, but I think it’s going to take another few weeks.’