192 additional people have tested positive for the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in Belgium, confirmed the Federal Public Health Service during a press conference on Wednesday.
This brings the total number of cases in Belgium, since the beginning of the pandemic, to 55,983. The total reflects all people in Belgium who have been infected, and includes confirmed active cases as well as patients who have since recovered, or died from the consequences of the virus.
117 of the newly-infected people live in Flanders, 57 live in Wallonia, and 18 live in Brussels. “The trend of new infections is still decreasing, by about 4% per day over the last 7 days,” said professor Steven Van Gucht.
10,410 coronavirus tests have been taken in Belgium in the past 24 hours, of which 9,464 in the clinical labs, and 946 by the federal testing platform.
58 new patients were admitted to hospital in the last 24 hours, and 160 were discharged. The total number of people in hospital because of the coronavirus at the moment is 1,527. “This trend is decreasing again, by about 3% per day,” Van Gucht said.
Of the patients in hospital, 313 are in the intensive care unit. “As with the other trends over the last 7 days, this trend also decreasing by about 4% per day,” he said.
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42 new deaths have been reported, bringing the total number of people who died because of the coronavirus to 9,150. “The trend in the number of newly-reported deaths also decreases by about 11% per day,” Van Gucht said.
"The early indicators of absenteeism at work and consultations with GPs for flu-like symptoms are both evolving in the right direction. The absenteeism at work continues to decrease, and the doctor consultations, with 88 per 100,000 inhabitants last week, is stabilising," Van Gucht said.
"The hayfever season has also started, bringing a lot of allergies with it. These symptoms can be similar to those caused by the coronavirus," said Van Gucht. "However, allergies typically appear when you are exposed to a certain amount of pollen when going outside, whereas with Covid-19, the symptoms will continue when you stay inside as well," he added.
Additionally, hayfever does not cause a fever or muscle aches as bad as those associated with Covid-19. Red and itchy eyes are also a sign of hayfever.
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Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
