On Wednesday, 332 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital in one day, the highest number since mid-November, according to figures by the national health institute Sciensano.
The number of new hospital admissions per day was at its highest since the second wave on 19 November, when 363 people with Covid-19 were admitted on the same day.
However, 334 patients were also discharged from hospital this Wednesday, the figures show.
Currently, a total of 3,152 people are admitted to hospitals in Belgium with Covid-19 symptoms, 908 of whom in intensive care.
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According to virologist and interfederal Covid-19 spokesperson Steven Van Gucht, more people could be admitted now than usual due to the holiday period with Easter and Easter Monday, when fewer people usually are admitted.
"That number has to come down a lot in the coming weeks," he told Het Laatste Nieuws.
"In principle - according to the most optimistic scenario: if everything runs perfectly and everyone follows the measures perfectly - we could fall below 100 admissions by the beginning of May," he said.
However, it is more likely that the number will still be a bit higher by then, according to Van Gucht.
"The real decline has yet to set in. We have probably reached some kind of peak only now," he said. "The big question is: how fast are the figures going to start dropping?"
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
