There are now fewer than 600 patients being treated in intensive care for Covid-19 in Belgian hospitals, a number not seen since 22 March.
Belgium recorded an average of 2,100 daily coronavirus infections between 9 and 15 May, a decrease of 31% compared to the previous seven-day period, according to figures from the Sciensano Public Health Institute updated on Wednesday morning.
In Belgium, 1,756 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised (-17% less in one week), including 596 in intensive care (-13% in one week). At this rate, the intermediate target of 500 intensive care patients should be reached by the end of May.
The pace of vaccination has accelerated recently and now more than one in four adults in the country has received a first dose of the vaccine.
Between 12 and 18 May, there were an average of 128 new hospital admissions per day for Covid-19, a decrease of 18% compared to the previous reporting period.
At the same time, an average of 22.7 people died per day as a result of the virus, which represents a significant decrease of 39.1% over one week.
Belgium has seen 24,749 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
An average of 42,100 tests were carried out daily, with a positive rate that has been declining for some time and now stands at 5.8%.
The virus reproduction rate is estimated at 0.86. When it is less than 1, this indicator means that the epidemic is tending to slow down. The incidence, which indicates the average number of new cases per day per 100,000 inhabitants, reached 312.7 over 14 days.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in Belgium, 1,034,714 cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed, a number that strongly underestimates the reality, given the lack of testing capacity during the first wave of the epidemic.
The Brussels Times
