Almost 7.8 million people in Belgium fully immunised against coronavirus
The public health science institute Sciensano has released the latest figures on the coronavirus pandemic in Belgium. They show a slowing down in the pace of increase in the 7-day averages for hospitalisations and new infections. The number of patients with COVID-19 that are being cared for in Belgian hospitals is back below 600.
On Thursday 19 August (the latest date for which figures are available) 8,333,088 people in Belgium had received at least 1 dose of coronavirus vaccine. This is 84.8% of the adult population and 72.3% of the population as a whole. Of these 7,796,625 are fully immunised. This is 82.1% of the adult population and 67.7% of the population as a whole.
There are regional differences though. In Flanders 88% of adults have been fully immunised. In Wallonia (excluding the 9 German-speaking municipalities in Liège Province) this is 77%. 73% of adults in the German-speaking area of Liège Province have been fully immunised. The Brussels Capital Region lags way behind the rest of the country with just 60% of adults fully immunised there.
During the week from 14 to 20 August an average of 58 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalised each day. This is 7% more than during the previous week. On Friday 20 August the country’s hospitals reported 48 new admissions. 74 patients were discharged. This brings the total number of patients with COVID-19 that are being cared for in Belgian hospitals to 581, a fall of 28 on the previous day. Nevertheless, there are currently 17% more COVID-19 patients in the country’s hospitals than there were a week ago.
Of those hospitalised 178 (-2) are on ICUs. 76 (-6) of these are on ventilators. The number of COVID-19 patients on ICUs is up 31% on a week ago.
During the week from 11 to 17 August an average of 3 people with COVID-19 died each day. Since the onset of the pandemic 25,320 people with COVID-19 have died in Belgium.
During the week from 11 to 17 August an average of 1,936 people tested positive for coronavirus each day. This is 6% up on the average for the previous week.
Between 11 and 17 August an average of 49,600 coronavirus tests were carried out in Belgium each day. This is 3% more than during the previous week. Of those tested 4.3% tested positive. This is 0.1 percentage point up on the previous week and exceeds the threshold above which the European Centre for Disease Control considered an epidemic to be giving “cause for concern”. However, it is still below the WHO’s 5% “cause for concern” threshold.
The basic reproductive rate for coronavirus in Belgium currently stands at 1.05. This means that every 100 people with coronavirus infect a further 105 others.