COVID-19: Hospital numbers top 2,600
The public health science institute Sciensano has released the latest figures on the coronavirus pandemic in Belgium. They show further rises in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus and in the number of people with COVID-19 that are being hospitalised.
During the week from 15 to 21 March an average of 10,412 people in Belgium tested positive for coronavirus each day. This is up 21% on the previous 7-day period (8 to 14 March).
Meanwhile, the number of tests has increased too. During the week from 15 to 21 March an average of 37,254 coronavirus tests were carried out in Belgium each day. This is 6% more than during the previous week. Of those tested 29.5% tested positive for coronavirus.
This is 3.5 percentage points up on the average for the previous week. Between 15 and 21 March the basic reproductive rate (R0) for coronavirus in Belgium stood at 1.11. This means that every 100 people with the virus infected an average of a further 111 others.
Hospitalisations and deaths
During the week from 17 to 24 March an average of 189 people with COVID-19 were hospitalised each day, a rise of 16% on the previous week. This figure only includes those hospitalised specifically because they have COVID-19.
On Thursday 24 March there were 2,632 patients with COVID-19 in the country’s hospitals. This figure, that is 16% up on a week ago, includes all patients with COVID-19 including those that were hospitalised for other reasons than the virus.
Between 16 and 22 March there an average of 168 COVID-19 patients on the ICUs of the country’s hospitals. This is 3% down on the figures from the previous week.
During the week from 15 to 21 March an average of 19 people with COVID-19 died in Belgium each day. Since the onset of the pandemic 30,662 people with COVID-19 have died in Belgium.