The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic has exceeded one million, according to the latest official figures published by the Sciensano public health institute on Thursday.
This figure, 1,003,746, includes confirmed active cases as well as patients who have since recovered or died as a result of the virus.
From 26 April to 2 May, the average number of new coronavirus cases reported per day was 2,957, down by 15% from the 7-day average of the week before.
Over the past two weeks, 392.2 infections were confirmed per 100,000 inhabitants, a 7% decrease compared to the two weeks before.
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Belgium’s reproduction rate, meanwhile, stands at 0.91. This means that one person with coronavirus infects on average fewer than one other person and that the epidemic is slowly retreating in Belgium.
From 26 April to 2 May, an average number of 36.9 deaths occurred per day, down by 8.2% from the seven-day average of the week before. This brings the total number of deaths in the country since the beginning of the pandemic to 24,406.
Between 29 April and 5 May, an average of 180.3 patients were admitted to the hospital per day, which marks a 12% decrease from the previous week's average.
The total number of coronavirus patients in hospitals on Wednesday was 2,482, down by 132 from the day before.
Of this total, 757 patients were in intensive care units, 38 fewer than the day before. Meanwhile, 470 patients were on a ventilator, 24 fewer than the previous day.
A "significant improvement" of the situation in hospitals was one of the requirements, alongside seven out of ten people over 65 years old having received their first vaccine dose, for the reopening of terraces on 8 May.
Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 12,759,277 tests have been carried out. Of those tests, an average of 46,936.1 tests were taken per day over the past week, with a positivity rate of 7.2%.
This percentage is down 1.6% since last week's seven-day average while testing increased by 6%.
As of 4 May, a total of 3,205,060 people in Belgium had received at least one dose of the vaccine against Covid-19, or 34.9% of the population aged 18 and older.
In addition, 872,105 people – or 9.5% of the adult population – have been fully vaccinated.
