At least thirty cases of contamination with the omikron variant are already known in Belgium. Virologist Steven Van Gucht announced this on Friday at the press conference of the National Crisis Center.
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There are currently three contamination clusters in which the omikron variant roams that have a link with foreign countries. The infected persons recently traveled to Egypt, Turkey, Dubai or the Czech Republic. There is also a major outbreak at a school, there is no link with foreign countries.
Van Gucht emphasizes that the vast majority of corona infections are still caused by the delta variant, about 98 to 99 percent. The virologist does warn against a rapid increase in the number of omikron infections, as can already be seen in the United Kingdom. In that country, the number of infections with the omikron variant is increasing by about 2 to 3 percent every week.
Van Gucht points out that less strict measures apply in the United Kingdom, while Belgium has intervened earlier. He therefore expects that the impact of omikron in Belgium will be less severe. In the United Kingdom, the omikron variant will be dominant at the end of January, according to Van Gucht, that will most likely also be the case in Belgium.
‘Omikron creates extra uncertainty in this pandemic’, said Van Gucht, ‘we should certainly not relax the measures too quickly.’
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Disease course
Van Gucht does not dare to say whether the omikron variant has a milder course of disease. There is still too little reliable data available from South Africa, the country where the latest mutation of the corona virus was first discovered.
The peak of the fourth wave of the coronavirus has been reached this week, Van Gucht knows. “The peak in the average number of new cases was on Tuesday, November 28, when 25,594 infections were reported,” he said. ‘The peak in the average number of hospital admissions fell on Wednesday 1 December. On November 30, there were 386 in absolute numbers.’
There are currently 827 patients in intensive care. The decline is expected to start there this week. By the end of December, 500 patients would have been admitted to intensive care. The deaths are still rising, but according to Van Gucht that is not unusual, because this is ‘always the last parameter to level off’.
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