According to the experts, the corona situation continues to evolve favorably, all figures continue to fall nicely. In the past week, 6,011 new infections were counted, good for a drop of 27 percent. A week ago there was still a drop of 37 percent, before that it was 46 percent. So the decline is slowing down.
And especially in the twenties, things are going less well in terms of infections. The decrease for that group is only 10 percent. “We are even seeing a slight increase among people in their twenties in Flanders. This is the case for West Flanders, Antwerp and Flemish Brabant. In general, the decrease is also less pronounced, resulting in a slight increase in the r-value. It goes from 0.74 to 0.82. But it’s still below 1, which means the epidemic is still slowing down,” explains virologist Steven Van Gucht. In Wallonia, the infections are falling the fastest, with a decrease of 42 percent at the moment. For Brussels this is 32 percent and for Flanders it is a decrease of 20 percent.
However, due to the relaxation planned by the Consultation Committee today, the experts fear that the infections could rise. “But due to the great immunity, we do not expect any new problems in healthcare in the coming weeks and months,” said Van Gucht.
Threshold of 65 hospitalizations coming soon
The hospital admissions – in contrast to the infections – continue their course of recent weeks. “At this rate, we can still reach the threshold of 65 admissions per day by March 20. Then we can comply with code yellow,” says Van Gucht. On average, 132 people are still admitted per day today. Just like in previous weeks, this is a drop of 27 percent. The total occupancy has decreased by 19 percent, to 2,108 patients in total. There are currently 227 patients in intensive care units, which is a decrease of 16 percent.
Death is also going in the right direction. There are now an average of 22 deaths per day, compared to 34 a week ago. This is a decrease of 36 percent.
More delta variant again
What is striking is that, according to the experts, more delta variants are suddenly detected in the sequences. “It is only about 5.4 percent, so there are not many findings, but we have found them more in recent weeks than before,” says Van Gucht. The omikron variant is still dominant with 61 percent of the infections. The BA.2 variant now comprises 34 percent of all infections.
The general practitioners also notice that the strength of the epidemic has decreased. 13 percent of GPs still report a heavy burden. But before that it was only 23 and before that it was 70 percent.
There was no answer to the question whether this was the experts’ last press moment. According to Antoine Iseux of the National Crisis Center, there will still be communication about the epidemiological situation, but it may be less frequent or in a different way.
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