An average of 21,874 new Covid-19 cases were detected per day in Belgium between 2 and 8 January, an increase of 96% compared to the previous week, according to figures from the Sciensano public health institute updated on Wednesday morning.
More than a quarter (26.6%) of the 84,300 tests carried out daily remain positive, Belga News Agency reports.
During this same period, an average of 17.4 people died per day as a result of the virus (-29%), bringing the death toll to around 28,500 since the start of the pandemic in Belgium.
A rising number of hospitalisations
Hospitalisations continue to increase, with an average of 79.4 hospital admissions per day between 5 and 11 January, an increase of 10% compared to the previous reference period.
A total of 1,995 people are currently hospitalised due to Covid-19, including 450 patients being treated in intensive care (-11%).
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The reproduction rate of the virus is 1.04. When higher than 1, this figure means that the epidemic is accelerating. The incidence, which indicates the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, reached 2,006 over 14 days.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in Belgium, more than 2.3 million coronavirus infections have been diagnosed.
