Number of deaths due to coronavirus now also increasing

Number of deaths due to coronavirus now also increasing
Credit: Belga

The number of deaths as a result of the coronavirus has started to increase in Belgium following a recent sharp rise in the number of new infections.

Between 18 and 24 July, the average number of deaths due to the virus increased by 100% and now sits at a daily average of 2, bringing the total to 25,230 deaths since the start of the pandemic in Belgium.

During the same period, an average of 1,481 new coronavirus infections were detected per day, a 10% increase from the average of the previous week, according to the latest figures from Sciensano Health Institute published on Wednesday morning.

Despite this figure still increasing, it is doing so less slowly than in the previous weeks when it skyrocketed from around 300 to over 1,400.

The daily average of testing over the past week decreased by 13% (a daily average of 61,889.1 tests were carried out), however, the positivity rate has continued to increase to 2.6%, the highest it has been in months.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,119,030 cases of coronavirus infection have been diagnosed in Belgium.

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Hospitalisations due to the coronavirus are also continuing to increase slightly, and between 21 and 27 July, there was an average of 29.7 new hospital admissions per day due to the coronavirus, a 14% increase compared to the previous reference period.

On Tuesday, a total of 309 (4 more than on Monday) people were in hospital as a result of the coronavirus, of whom 94 (-3) people were being treated in intensive care, and 53 people (-2) were on a ventilator. Most people being hospitalised reportedly haven't been fully vaccinated.

The incidence, which indicates the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 14 days, is continuing to increase, albeit slightly less quickly, and has now risen by 81% since the last 14-day period, sitting at 172.3.

The reproduction rate of the coronavirus has increased slightly to 1.11 after dropping to 1.08 on Tuesday. This figure is the average number of people infected by an infected person. When the figure is higher than 1, it means the pandemic is gathering pace in Belgium.

As of Monday, 83.1% of the adult population in Belgium had received the first injection of a coronavirus vaccine. This figure equates to just over 7.91 million people.

Of these, more than 6.28 million people (67.9% of the adult population of Belgium) have received a second dose and are now considered fully protected.

The Brussels Times


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