Nearly 1,800 corona patients in Belgian hospitals

There are currently 1,777 corona patients in Belgian hospitals, including 313 in intensive care. That is an increase of 10 and 11 percent respectively compared to a week earlier. The number of infections has more than doubled in a week. An average of 44,000 tests are administered every day.

Between 5 and 11 October, an average of 5,421 new corona infections per day were confirmed in Belgium. This is evident from preliminary figures from the Sciensano health institute. This is an increase of 101 percent compared to the seven days before. The figures have thus slightly more than doubled in a week. 181,511 people have been infected in our country since the start of the epidemic.

According to the data, the r-value – the number that shows how many people an infected person infects – is in our case at 1.45. That number also continues to rise.

The number of hospitalizations continues to increase: an average of 169.7 people were admitted to hospital between 8 and 14 October, an increase of 87 percent compared to the previous period.

Between 5 and 11 October, an average of 20 people per day died from the consequences of an infection. Meanwhile, 10,278 people have already died from Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic.

Testing

There is still a lot of testing: an average of 44,000 people a day, of which an average of 11.9 percent test positive. That positivity ratio – the number of people who test positive in relation to the total number of tests – has increased by four percent from a week earlier.

According to it European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) more than 2,000 people are tested per 100,000 inhabitants in Belgium. That number is higher in our country than in, for example, the Netherlands (around 1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants), France (less than 1,500), Italy (around 1,200) and Germany (between 1,000 and 1,500). In the United Kingdom, more per inhabitant (> 2,000) are tested than in Belgium.

In Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, among others, the position ratio is significantly lower than in Belgium. In France and the Netherlands, that number is, just like with us, around 10 percent. ECDC relies on data up to October 9.

Measures

In an effort to bring the numbers down again, the De Croo government announced new corona measures last week that started on Friday. For example, the reference figure – the number of people with whom you may have close contact – has since been at 3. It has been shown in the past that it takes a while before the effect of new measures is reflected in the figures.

– .