Sciensano, the Belgian institute for health, has made its data about the new coronavirus (Covid-19) available to the public on a dynamic, interactive dashboard via its website, showing that Flanders has more than twice as many cases as Wallonia.
The dashboard is updated daily, and consists of the tabs 'cases', 'hospitalizations' and 'deaths'. It is possible to filter the data per country region, per province, gender or age group, shown for the period of time you choose. You can also look at new cases as well as cumulative ones.
As of 6 April, the data shows that 54.8% of people confirmed with the coronavirus were female, but 56.2% of all the deaths were male.
The large majority of the number of deaths fell in the age groups 65-74 (243), 75-84 (548), and 85+ (698). However, eight people fell in the age group 25-44, and one person was younger than 24. For 22 people, there was no data available. By clicking on one age group, it is possible to see the gender of the patients, as well as if they came from Flanders, Wallonia or Brussels, and on which date their death was recorded.
Filtering the total number of confirmed cases by gender, it becomes clear that about two-thirds of all male patients fall in the age group 50-59 years old, and older. For female patients, however, the cases are more evenly spread across the different age categories, with most patients falling in the age groups of 50-59 years old, and younger.
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The 'Hospitalized' tab shows not only the number of people newly admitted or discharged, but also the total number of patients that have been in the hospital since the beginning of the outbreak (8,685) in Belgium. Currently, 5,840 patients are hospitalised, of which 1,257 are in the Intensive Care Unit. Of those patients, 984 are currently on a ventilator.
3,051 of the current coronavirus patients in Belgium have been admitted to a hospital in Flanders. Of them, 675 people were in the intensive care unit on 5 April, and 478 were on a ventilator. In Wallonia, where 1,890 of the coronavirus patients are hospitalised, 379 people are in the ICU, of which 342 are on a ventilator.
899 patients are currently hospitalised in Brussels, of which 203 are in the ICU, with 164 people on a ventilator. Despite having fewer cases than Flanders and Wallonia in absolute numbers, the Brussels region has 194.49 confirmed cases per 100,000 people, compared to 186.71 in Flanders and 159.41 in Wallonia.
Province-wise, Limburg (with 2,607 cases) is hit hardest by the virus. However, in absolute numbers, Antwerp (with 2,743 cases) has over 100 cases more. In cumulative cases per 100,000 inhabitants, however, Limburg has 298.81, over twice as many as Antwerp's 148.05.
"The collected data can provide insight into the dynamics of the epidemic, help to anticipate different scenarios and to elaborate possible measures to curb the spread of the virus," the institute states on its website.
Sciensano is responsible for the epidemiological follow-up of the coronavirus epidemic in Belgium, in collaboration with its partners and other healthcare actors.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
