The number of coronavirus infections in Belgium has more than doubled in one week and the number of hospital admissions also went up by a quarter, figures from the Sciensano national health institute show on Saturday.
Between 29 December and 4 January, an average of 15,996 new infections were identified every day, more than double (104%) the number of the week before.
On Tuesday 4 January, a total of 28,033 infections were registered in one day in Belgium – a new record. Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 2,231,686 infections have been recorded in Belgium.
An average of 71,835 tests were taken each day, an increase of 12%. Between 29 December and 4 January, the tests’ positivity rate rose to 22% – an increase of 9.2% compared to the week before. On 4 January, the positivity rate based on the daily figures even peaked at 29%.
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The number of hospital admissions is also rising: between 1 January and 7 January, an average of 176 people (+26%) were hospitalised with Covid-19 per day.
In total, 1,892 coronavirus patients are currently admitted to Belgian hospitals (+7%). Additionally, 464 patients are in need of intensive care (a decrease of 13%).
The number of deaths fell by 21% in the period from 29 December to 4 January, to an average of 22.4 per day. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 28,500 people died as a result of the coronavirus in Belgium.
The reproduction rate (Rt) currently sits at 1.14, meaning that every infected person – on average – infects more than one other person and that the pandemic is gaining momentum.
