276 additional people have tested positive for the new coronavirus (Covid-19) in Belgium in the last 24 hours, confirmed the federal public health ministry on Friday.
This brings the total number of cases in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic to 56,511. 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.
175 of the newly-infected people live in Flanders, 69 live in Wallonia, and 30 live in Brussels. No information was available on the place of residence of two new cases.
56 new patients were admitted to hospital in the last 24 hours, and 135 were discharged.
The total number of people in hospital because of the coronavirus at the moment is 1,415.
Of the patients in hospital, 268 are in the intensive care unit, nine fewer than yesterday.
Men make up 53% of all hospital admissions so far, and more than half (51.8%) were older than 71 years.
26 new deaths have been reported, bringing the total number of people who died because of the coronavirus to 9,212.
Of the new fatalities, 14 took place in hospital and 12 in care homes. Of the total number of deaths, 48% took place in hospital, 51% in a care home and only 0.7% elsewhere, including the patient’s own home.
The split between hospital and care home is different according to the region: 43% to 55% in Flanders, 52% to 47% in Wallonia and 55% to 45% in Brussels.
Over the last 24 hours, the regional differences were particularly striking: 75/25 in Flanders for hospital/care home; 50/50 in Brussels and 30/70 in Wallonia.
Deaths in hospital are all confirmed Covid-19 cases, while those in care homes in the last 24 hours were 67% (eight cases) confirmed by test. That shows the growth of testing in care homes. Over the whole period of the pandemic in Belgium, only 24% of care home deaths have been able to be confirmed by test, but the figure is now very much higher.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
