Covid-19: Patients in ICU up by more than one-third

Covid-19: Patients in ICU up by more than one-third
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Between 5 and 11 August, the number of patients admitted to intensive care units rose by 35%, according to the Sciensano Public Health Institute on Thursday.

During that period, there was an average of 48.3 hospital admissions per day for patients suffering from Covid-19, a 26% increase compared to the previous reporting period.

A total of 467 people remain hospitalised due to Covid-19 (+17 on the previous day), including 124 patients being treated in intensive care (+3).

Between 2 and 8 August, an average of 1,738 new Covid-19 infections were detected each day, up 8% compared with the previous week.

During the same period, an average of 3.6 people died per day from the virus (+14%), bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in Belgium to 25,282.

An average of 50,234 tests were carried out daily, with a positive rate of 3.9%.

The virus reproduction rate, based on the number of hospitalisations, is down slightly to 1.16. This figure represents the average number of people infected by each infected person. When it is higher than 1, it means that the epidemic is spreading in the population.

The incidence, which indicates the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, reached 203.6 over the past 14 days.

More than 8.23 million Belgians have received a first dose of a vaccine, representing 84.2% of the population, and nearly 7.5 million are fully vaccinated, amounting to approximately 79.4% of the adult population in Belgium.

Infectious diseases expert Jeroen van der Hilst warned earlier this week that Belgium should relax its coronavirus restrictions now, while ICUs are almost empty, to spread out Covid-19 patients and avoid full hospitals again in autumn.

Young people and returning travellers are part of the reason the number of coronavirus infections in the Brussels-Capital Region is rising, according to Inge Neven, head of the Brussels Health Inspectorate.

The Brussels Times


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