In hospitals in Belgium, the number of new patients admitted to hospital, sent to intensive care units, or put on a ventilator as a result of the coronavirus has decreased, according to the latest official figures published by the Sciensano public health institute on Wednesday.
Between 14 and 20 April, an average of 237.7 patients was admitted to the hospital per day, a decrease of 8% compared to the week before.
The total number of coronavirus patients in hospitals on Tuesday was 3,103, down by 37 from the day before, and 925 patients were in intensive care units, down by 13 since the day before. Meanwhile, 534 patients were on a ventilator, 23 less than the previous day.
If this trend of decreasing figures continues, the relaxations planned for 8 May, including the lifting of curfews and the reopening of terraces, could become possible, as it is in part subject to the situation in hospitals having “sustainably improved".
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From 11 to 17 April, an average of 3,469 new people tested positive per day, the same as the 7-day average of the week before.
The total number of confirmed cases in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic is 955,056. This reflects those who have been infected, all confirmed active cases, and those who have since recovered or died as a result of the virus.
Over the past two weeks, 422.2 infections were confirmed per 100,000 inhabitants, which is a 24% decrease compared to the two weeks before.
From 11 to 17 April, an average number of 36.9 deaths occurred per day, marking a 15.1% decrease compared to the week before. This brings the total number of deaths in the country since the beginning of the pandemic to 23,834.
Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 12,051,821 tests have been carried out. Of those tests, an average of 40,082.9 was taken per day over the past week, with a positivity rate of 9.8%.
This percentage has increased by 0.3% since last week's seven-day average, while testing decreased by 2%.
As of 19 April, a total of 2,341,297 people in Belgium have received at least one dose of the vaccine against Covid-19, or 25.5% of the population aged 18 and older.
In addition, 718,187 people – or 7.8% of the adult population – have been fully vaccinated.
The reproduction rate, however, has gone up to 0.99, meaning that one person with coronavirus still infects on average less than one other person and but the epidemic is slowly increasing in Belgium.
Lauren Walker
The Brussels Times
