The total number of patients infected with the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in the Belgian hospitals continues to decrease, announced the Federal Public Health Service during its daily press briefing on Thursday.
The number of patients newly-admitted to the hospitals has been gradually decreasing since the beginning of April, when Belgium likely reached the peak of its curve, according to virologist and interfederal Covid-19 spokesperson Steven Van Gucht.
310 new patients were admitted to the hospital in the last 24 hours, reported Van Gucht on Thursday 16 April. 455 new people were also discharged and declared recovered, bringing the total number of people in the hospital because of the coronavirus at the moment to 5,309. This is a decrease of 206 patients in the last 24 hours.
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“Of the patients in the hospital, 1,182 are in the intensive care unit, which is also a decrease, of 22 patients,” said Van Gucht. “Of the patients in the ICU, 868 are on a respirator, which is a decrease of 21,” he added.
Dankzij jullie verbeteren de cijfers van het aantal gehospitaliseerde patiënten. De cijfers verbeteren traag, daarom heeft de NVR beslist om de maatregelen te verlengen tot en met 3 mei. Hou vol! We redden mensenlevens met onze inspanningen. Samen kunnen dit! #samentegencorona pic.twitter.com/cNZmUdXCKU
— FOD Volksgezondheid (@be_gezondheid) April 16, 2020
Translation: "Thanks to you, the numbers of hospitalised patients are improving. The figures are improving slowly, which is why the NSC has decided to extend the measures until 3 May. Hang in there! We are saving people's lives with our efforts. We can do it together!"
Since 15 March, which is when hospitals started regularly reporting their patients and deaths using a uniform system, 7,526 people have been discharged and are considered recovered, according to the FPS Public Health’s figures.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 34,809 confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported in Belgium.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
