Coronavirus figures up, “We expect 10th wave to be small”, says virologist
The latest figures on the coronavirus pandemic in Belgium show rises in the number of positive PCR test results for the virus and in the number of hospitalisations and deaths of people with COVID-19. The figures come from the public health science institute Sciensano.
The virologist Professor Steven Van Gucht says that “The coronavirus figures have risen again, but we expect the 10th wave that is already underway to be relatively small. We are seeing a mixture of omicron variants with relatively small increases in cases among them”.
During the week between 7 and 13 February an average of 6,407 positive PCR test results were recorded for coronavirus in Belgium each day. This is up 29% on the previous week. During the same period, the number of PCR tests for coronavirus carried out increased to an average of 5,704 per day. Of those tested 17.4% tested positive for the virus. The basic reproductive rate (R0) for coronavirus in Belgium currently stands at 1.14 this means that every 100 people with the virus infect an average of a further 114 others.
Hospitalisations and deaths
During the week from 9 to 15 February the number of patients with COVID-19 that are hospitalised increased by 30%. Between 9 and 15 February a total of 615 patients were hospitalised due to the ill-effects of COVID-19.
A further 538 patients were hospitalised for other reasons, but subsequently tested positive for the virus. There are currently 245 patients with COVID-19 in the country’s hospitals. Of these 34 are in intensive care, a fall of 21% on this time last week.
During the past week there were a total of 38 deaths of people with COVID-19.