For the first time since mid-June, more than 500 people in Belgium are in hospital as a result of the coronavirus, according to the latest figures from the Sciensano Public Health Institute on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, a total of 551 people remained in hospitals due to an infection (29 more than on Sunday), including 158 patients being treated in intensive care (+11), with 75 on a ventilator (-1).
Between 10 and 16 August, the average number of patients admitted to hospitals in Belgium rose by 22%. During that period, 54.4 patients suffering from Covid-19 were admitted on an average per day.
Between 7 and 13 August, an average of 1,903 new Covid-19 infections was detected per day, up 9% compared with the previous week.
Meanwhile, an average of 49,762 tests (-5%) was performed daily, with a positive rate of 4.2%.
During the same period, an average of 3.3 people died per day from the virus (-4%), bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in Belgium to 25,299.
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The virus reproduction rate has once again decreased slightly to 1.09 after reaching 1.22 on Saturday. This figure represents the average number of people infected by each infected person, and when it is higher than 1, it means that the epidemic is growing in the population.
The incidence, which indicates the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, reached 222.3 over the past 14 days.
Nearly 8.3 million Belgians have received a first dose of the vaccine, representing 84.5% of the adult population, and 72% of the total population (including 12 to 17-year-olds who can now also be vaccinated).
Meanwhile, more than 7.6 million people are fully vaccinated, accounting for 81.2% of the adult population in Belgium, and 66.4% of the total population.
On Friday at 2:00 PM, Belgium's Consultative Committee will meet to discuss the epidemiological situation in the country, as well as possible relaxations as part of the next phase of the summer plan, expected to go ahead from 1 September.
As stated when the summer plan was announced, measures will be relaxed provided that seven out of 10 adults have had their first vaccine, which is the case.
The number of people being treated for the coronavirus in intensive care is also well below the threshold of 500, another requirement for relaxations to go ahead. However, the number of hospital admissions - another requirement - is increasing.
The Brussels Times
