Frequently asked questions | Coronavirus Dashboard

Virus particles in wastewater

Why do the wastewater measurements show several municipalities?

Wastewater treatment plants often do not follow municipal boundaries. Although an installation is located in a specific municipality, it may also purify part of the wastewater water of surrounding municipalities.

From 4 March 2021, the dashboard also shows wastewater measurements from municipalities that do not have their own wastewater treatment plant. By using the measurements of the wastewater treatment plants to which these municipalities are connected (and using population figures from Statistics Netherlands), we can also calculate how many virus particles are in the wastewater water for municipalities without their own wastewater treatment plant.

Because the representation is per 100,000 inhabitants, those figures are comparable to other municipalities. This new calculation leads to different values at national and municipal level. Read more about the calculation of the figures on the RIVM website.

Reproduction number

Why is the reproduction number not recent?

Although the R-number is not recent, the value shown is the most recent figure available at this time. Calculations of the reproduction number (R) more recent than 14 days ago can be an indicator of the final value, but are not a reliable predictor.

The reliability of the calculation decreases for more recent days, because the notifications for recent days have not yet been fully reported and the numbers of notifications for future days cannot yet be known. The R-value is therefore less recent, because otherwise the value is not reliable enough.

When is the reproduction number updated?

View on patients

Why do I see a gray bar on the 'Patients over time' graph?

We use the actual date of an admission in the graph 'Patients over time', because it better reflects when people ended up in hospital. That means that we only show the recordings of that day.

Because an admission is often not reported until one or two days later, this figure is not yet complete. The figure rises in the following days, because the reports will then also include recordings from yesterday. Those recordings are then added to the chart.

The graph therefore contains a gray bar that indicates for which days the figures are not yet complete and can therefore rise in the coming days.

Why are the figures still being changed or updated?

Why don’t you show how many people have been discharged from hospital?

Vaccinations

Will the dashboard also give information about the vaccines’ side effects?

Why don't you display figures on confirmed cases and hospital admissions for people who have been vaccinated?

General

What is the difference between “value of” and “obtained”?

The tiles on the dashboard show the term “value of” to indicate the date to which the number refers, while “obtained” is used to refer to the date when the information was received. The purpose of providing this information is to give users a better idea of how up-to-date the data is, which is especially relevant for retrospective indicators.

For instance, RIVM publishes the reproduction number (R) twice a week, but the most recent R is always for a date two weeks in the past. “Value of” is followed by that date two weeks ago, and “obtained” by the date on which the most recent R was published (the current week).

How do you make calculations per 100,000 inhabitants if fewer than 100,000 live in a municipality?

In order to compare municipalities, we convert some figures to figures per 100,000 people. We do this so we can better compare large and small municipalities with one another. If we didn’t do this, municipalities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam would always have high numbers because far more people live there than in smaller municipalities.

Example:
On 3 May 2021, a total of 47 people in Katwijk had a positive test result.
According to figures from the CBS, there were 65,753 people living in Katwijk on that date.
The calculation we then make is 47 / 65,753 * 100,000 = 71.5.
So on 3 May, a total of 71.5 people per 100,000 in Katwijk tested positive.

On 3 May 2021 a total of 455 people in Amsterdam had a positive test result.
According to figures from the CBS, there were 872,757 people living in Amsterdam on that date.
We then make the same calculation: 455 / 872,757 * 100,000 = 52.1.
So on 3 May, a total of 52.1 people per 100,000 in Amsterdam tested positive.

More people live in Amsterdam than in Katwijk, but by calculating the positive test results per 100,000 people we are able to compare the two municipalities. On 3 May 2021 more people per 100,000 inhabitants in Katwijk than in Amsterdam had a positive test result.

Because the number per 100,000 people is a calculated rate and therefore does not express an exact number of people, it can be rounded off to the nearest tenth (one decimal place).