The increase in average new daily infections continues to rise, according to the latest figures published by the Sciensano public health institute on Monday.
Between 1 and 7 January, an average of 1,816 new people tested positive per day over the past week, which is a 14% increase compared to the week before.
The total number of confirmed cases in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic is 664,263. The total reflects all people in Belgium who have been infected, and includes confirmed active cases as well as patients who have since recovered, or died as a result of the virus.
Over the past two weeks, 207.9 infections were confirmed per 100,000 inhabitants, which is a 28% decrease compared to the two weeks before.
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Between 4 and 10 January, an average of 128.1 patients were admitted to hospital, which is 12% fewer than the week before.
In total, 1,955 coronavirus patients are currently in hospital, or 27 more than yesterday. Of all patients, 371 are in intensive care, which is 8 fewer than yesterday. A total of 203 patients are on a ventilator – two fewer than yesterday.
From 1 to 7 January, an average number of 53.4 deaths occurred per day, marking a 23.5% decrease compared to the week before.
The total number of deaths in the country since the beginning of the pandemic is currently 20,078.
Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 7,293,072 tests have been carried out. Of those tests, an average of 35,309.9 were taken per day over the past week, with a positivity rate of 5.7%.
The percentage decreased by 1.5% compared to last week, along with a 39% increase in testing.
The reproduction rate, meanwhile, is currently at 0.94, which means that a person infected with coronavirus infects slightly fewer than one other person on average.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
