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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands rose 24 in the week to Tuesday, the biggest weekly increase since mid-December, the Dutch fitness government said.
Last week saw a total of 39,527 new cases in the country of another 17 million people, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients since the pandemic began to nearly 1. 2 million, with 16,119 similar deaths.
Three-quarters of the new cases were caused by a new, more contagious mutation of the virus that was first discovered in Britain, the Netherlands Institute of Public Health (RIVM) said.
RIVM has warned of an impending wave of infections as new mutations take hold.
That prompted the government last week to end a sweeping lockdown to combat the pandemic, adding a midnight curfew that angered some Dutch citizens, at least until the end of this month.
The government faces a general election on Tuesday and Wednesday in which Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party is expected to win enough to secure a fourth term, despite complaints over its coronavirus policy.
(Reporting via Bart Meijer; Edited by Catherine Evans)