Corona figures continue to rise
The public health science institute Sciensano has released the latest figures on the coronavirus pandemic in Belgium. They show further rises across the board. However, the pace at which the number of hospitalisations and new cases is rising is slowing down.
During the week from 20 to 26 March an average of 229 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to Belgian hospitals each day. This is a rise of 23% compared with the previous week. On Friday 26 March the hospitals reported a total of 201 COVID-19 admissions. This is 41 down on the previous day’s figures. 200 patients were discharged. There are currently 2,499 (+7) patients with COVID-19 in the country’s hospitals. Of these 664 (+7) are in intensive care and 363 (+8) are on ventilators.
During the week from 17 to 23 March an average of 27 people with COVID-19 died in Belgium each day. This is 12% up on the 7-day rolling average for the previous week.
During the week from 17 to 23 March an average of 4,530 people tested positive for COVID-19 each day in Belgium. This is 31% up on the 7-day rolling average for the previous week.
During the same period an average of 62,200 people were tested for coronavirus each day. This is up 22% up on the previous week. Of those tested 7.7% test positive for coronavirus, a rise of 0.5 percentage points on the positivity rate for the previous week.
The basic reproduction number for coronavirus in Belgium currently stands at 1.13.
By Thursday 25 March 1,152,481 people in Belgium had been given their first dose of coronavirus vaccine. This is 12.5% of the adult population. Almost 480,000 people have already received a second dose of coronavirus vaccine.