The number of persons who have died from the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) in Belgium has now topped the 7,000-mark, the public health scientific institute, Sciensano, reports on Sunday.
According to Sciensano, 809 new Covid-19 cases were registered in the past 24 hours, while there were 178 deaths, bringing total fatalities thus far to 7,094. Some 103 of the 178 new deaths occurred in nursing homes.
New admissions to hospitals over the past 24 hours numbered 204, while 368 people were discharged.
The number of new admissions has been hovering around 200 for the past five days, said virologist Marc Van Ranst on Saturday on VTM.
New hospital admissions remain stable, but “have not gone down for a few days now,” he added.
This number “needs to keep going down […] to under 100 per day” if stores are to be allowed to reopen, as planned, on 11 May.
The virologist stressed the same message on Sunday on Twitter, emphasizing that the criteria for starting deconfinement should be based not on the number of deaths but on the number of hospital admissions.
This number “has not gone down for one week now, and is still above 200 per day,” he tweeted.
The number of people in hospital has decreased to 3,959, while 891 are still in intensive care. “Fewer than 4,000 Covid patients in our hospital. Continue to apply the measures,” Health Minister Maggie De Block urged on social media.
The Brussels Times
