The number of new coronavirus infections continues to decrease in Belgium. For the first time, this is now reflected in the number of Covid-19 patients being treated in intensive care.
Although the public health institute Sciensano doesn't officially publish an update of the coronavirus figures on Mondays (because hospitals are not obliged to forward their data in real-time during the weekend), the cabinet of Public Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke published preliminary figures on Monday which are not yet visible on the Sciensano dashboard.
These showed that between 3 and 9 December, the average number of Covid-19 infections dropped to 13,984 cases per day, a 20% decrease from the previous week. This confirms that the decline in infections is accelerating.
A total of 670,703 tests were taken during the same week, of which 110,476 tested positive. This brings the positivity ratio to 16.47%, meaning that for every 100 tests, slightly more than 16 resulted in a positive test result.
Hospitals and intensive care
The situation also seems to be improving in hospitals: between 6 and 12 December, an average of 271 Covid-19 patients per day were admitted to hospitals. On Sunday, 3,277 patients were in the hospital, down from 3,613 ten days ago.
Meanwhile, the pressure on intensive care units has also reduced slightly for the first time since the start of the fourth wave in Belgium. On Sunday, there were 12 Covid-19 patients fewer (827) in intensive care than on Saturday.
However, there are still more ICU beds occupied than ten days ago, when there were 804 patients in intensive care.
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The number of deaths has also decreased for the first time since the start of this latest wave: between 1 and 7 December, an average of 47 Covid-19 patients died every day – 1% less than the previous week. This brings the total coronavirus death toll to 27,504.
The official coronavirus figures will be available on Tuesday based on the latest update on the Sciensano dashboard.
