There has been a slight increase in the number of people newly testing positive for the coronavirus in Belgium, according to figures from the Sciensano Public Health Institute updated on Thursday morning.
Between 3 and 9 May, an average of 2,993 new coronavirus infections were detected per day, up by 1% compared to the previous week. Since the beginning of the epidemic in Belgium, 1,020,332 cases of coronavirus infection have been diagnosed.
An average of 52,590.1 tests (up by 11%) were carried out daily in the past week, with a positive rate of 6.4% (down by 0.8%).
Over the same period, an average of 36.9 people died per day from the virus (down by 0.8%), bringing the total to 24,630 deaths since the start of the epidemic in Belgium.
The incidence, which indicates the average number of new cases per day per 100,000 inhabitants, reached 363.0 over 14 days, down by 15%.
Meanwhile, the reproduction rate of the virus remains at 0.91. When this number is below 1, it means that the epidemic gradually slowing down, however, this figure has been slightly increasing in previous days.
Between 6 and 12 May, there was an average of 154.1 new hospital admissions per day due to coronavirus, a 14% decrease compared to the previous reference period.
On Wednesday, a total of 2,024 people were newly hospitalised as a result of coronavirus (77 fewer than on Tuesday), of whom 657 (-29) people were being treated in intensive care, and 423 (unchanged) were on a ventilator.
More than one-third of adults in Belgium (39.5%) have received the first injection of a coronavirus vaccine. This equates to more than 3.7 million people.
Of these, almost 1.2 million (about 25% of the adult population in Belgium) have received a second dose and are considered fully protected.
On Tuesday, the Consultative Committee announced its broader "summer plan", which will gradually lead to the lifting of various restrictions if the vaccination rollout remains successful and the situation in hospitals is "evolving positively," including ICU occupancy below 500.
The Brussels Times
