The daily average of new coronavirus infections is decreasing slightly, however, the number of people ending up in the hospital or dying as a result of the virus continues to rise.
Between 26 and 2 October, an average of 1,900 new coronavirus infections were identified every day, a 2% decrease from the previous seven days, according to the latest figures published by the Sciensano Public Health Institute on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, the average number of tests taken has also decreased, as 44,558.6 tests were taken, 7% fewer than last week. The positivity rate sits at 4.7%, up by 0.2% since last week.
During the same period, an average of 8.3 people died per day from the virus, a 7% increase compared to last week. This brings the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in Belgium to 25,640.
Between 29 September and 5 October, on average, 59.4 patients suffering from Covid-19 were admitted to hospitals per day, an 11% increase since the previous week.
On Tuesday, a total of 748 people were in hospitals due to an infection (16 more than on Monday), including 210 patients being treated in intensive care (+2), with 120 on a ventilator (+4).
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The virus reproduction rate has slightly decreased again to 1.04 after rising to 1.10 on Saturday. This figure represents the average number of people infected by each infected person, and when it is higher than 1, it means that the epidemic is gaining ground in Belgium.
The incidence, which indicates the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, has fallen slightly and now sits at 232.8 over the past 14 days.
As of Monday, more than 8.6 million people in Belgium have received a first dose of the vaccine, representing 87% of the adult population, and 75% of the total population.
Meanwhile, more than 8.43 million people are fully vaccinated, accounting for 85% of the adult population in Belgium, and 73% of the total population.
Belgium has also started administering booster doses of coronavirus vaccines to people from certain vulnerable groups to keep the protection against the coronavirus sufficiently high. So far, around 150,000 people have received such a dose.
The Brussels Times
