Belgium’s coronavirus infections rise while hospital admissions drop

The increase in average new daily infections continues to rise while hospital admissions are dropping, according to the latest figures published by the Sciensano public health institute on Tuesday.

Between 2 and 8 January, an average of 2,020.4 new people tested positive per day over the past week, which is a 27% increase compared to the week before.

The total number of confirmed cases in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic is 665,223. The total reflects all people in Belgium who have been infected, and includes confirmed active cases as well as patients who have since recovered, or died as a result of the virus.

Over the past two weeks, 220 infections were confirmed per 100,000 inhabitants, which is an 18% decrease compared to the two weeks before.

Between 5 and 11 January, an average of 127 patients were admitted to hospital, which is 9% fewer than the week before.

In total, 2,020 coronavirus patients are currently in hospital, or 65 more than yesterday. Of all patients, 378 are in intensive care, which is 7 more than yesterday. A total of 195 patients are on a ventilator – 8 fewer than yesterday.

From 2 to 8 January, an average number of 52.7 deaths occurred per day, marking a 21.3% decrease compared to the week before.

The total number of deaths in the country since the beginning of the pandemic is currently 20,122.

Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 7,315,972 tests have been carried out. Of those tests, an average of 40,188.9 were taken per day over the past week, with a positivity rate of 5.5%.

The percentage decreased by 1.8% compared to last week, along with a 59% increase in testing.

The reproduction rate, meanwhile, remains at 0.94, which means that a person infected with coronavirus infects slightly fewer than one other person on average.

Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *