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Last week, 30 people died in Limburg with Covid-19. That’s twice as many as the week before, when there were 14 Covid deaths in our county. Of those 30 Covid deaths, 26 were in a hospital and 4 in a retirement home.
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The pressure of the second corona wave on Limburg hospitals continues to increase day after day. There are now a total of 282 Covid patients in the seven Limburg hospitals, 79 of whom are staying at the intensive care unit. This means that 55 percent of the intensive Covid beds in Limburg are now occupied. The ZOL in Genk, still the most affected hospital in Limburg, already has 93 Covid patients, 25 of whom are on intensive care. Jessa in Hasselt takes care of 77 Covid patients, 28 of whom are in intensive care. Sint-Franciscus in Heusden-Zolder has 30 Covid patients (6 on intensive), AZ Vesalius in Tongeren 26 (5 on intensive), Sint-Trudo in Sint-Truiden 21 (7 on intensive), Noorderhart in Pelt 19 (5 on intensive) and Maas en Kempen Hospital in Maaseik 16 (3 intensive).
Rest homes
Along with hospital admissions, the number of Covid deaths in Limburg hospitals is also increasing. Last week, 26 patients with Covid-19 died in seven Limburg hospitals. That’s more than twice as many as the week before, when there were 11 Covid deaths in our hospitals. The death balance is also getting heavier in Limburg rest homes. Last week, four nursing home residents with Covid-19 died, the week before that was three. In total, 30 people with Covid-19 died in Limburg last week. The virus is thus making more and more victims in this second wave, although the balance in Limburg is still much less severe than in the rest of the country. After all, 1,027 people died with Covid-19 across Belgium last week. That is an average of 147 per day.
Curve flattens further
In the meantime, the corona curve is flattening further in Limburg. Last week, there were 3,016 new corona infections in Limburg. This means that the number of new infections in Limburg in a week has fallen by 126, or a decrease of 4 percent. The R-value in Limburg is now 0.953. The fact that that figure dips below 1 is good news, because it means that the corona epidemic is no longer growing in Limburg.
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