AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – There were around 2,000 more deaths in the Netherlands in the first week of April than would normally be expected, its statistics office said on Friday, likely the result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Figures released by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) showed around 5,100 deaths registered in the country in the week ended April 5, compared to around 3,200 a week in the same period a year ago, and 3,100 a week in early 2020 before the country registered its first COVID-19 case in late February.
The CBS numbers are complementary to data released by the country’s National Institute for Public Health (RIVM), which registers only coronavirus cases that are officially diagnosed. The RIVM reported 881 coronavirus deaths in the same period.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
