The Crisis Center is positive about the declining evolution in the corona figures. The corona figures continue to fall convincingly. There is currently no mention of a delay. An encouraging evolution that makes one dream of further relaxation’, says virologist Steven Van Gucht.
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One in four adult Belgians has already been fully vaccinated. Half of the adults already received their first shot. And although the numbers are evolving positively and all trends are declining, virologist Steven Van Gucht emphasizes that we still have to be careful. “You’re not completely safe until you get that second shot. Except for the Janssen vaccine, which only requires a vaccination’, it sounds. That is why it is important that we continue to take measures such as keeping distance and wearing mouth masks. Especially when more and more measures and obligations will disappear.’
In the month of May, about three million vaccines were administered in our country. In April there were two million, says Gudrun Briat of the Vaccination Task Force. ‘So there is a significant increase.’ Nearly 80 percent of people with underlying conditions have already received their first shot. From Thursday it will be the turn of the rest of the population, so there will no longer be a question of priority. Only pregnant women will still be able to be vaccinated as a priority. We are well on track with our vaccination campaign to achieve herd immunity. ‘Join the return to normal life. And if you’re still in doubt, let yourself be convinced.’
To a question about how high the vaccination coverage should be to achieve herd immunity, Van Gucht answers the following: ‘There is no magic number when it comes to vaccination coverage. At the start of the pandemic, 70 percent was set as a minimum. But the more contagious the virus, the higher the herd immunity must be. For the coronavirus, that will be between 70 and 95 percent. For measles, for example, this is 95 percent.
Especially 16 and 17-year-olds infected
There are currently just over 1,700 infections per day. This is a drop of 27 percent. ‘We see a decline in every age group,’ says Van Gucht. ‘It is only slightly lower among adolescents. Young people make up 20 percent of the total number of infections: especially 16 and 17-year-olds are now infected. But they are in an environment where they are closely monitored by the CLB and are regularly tested.’
‘The whole of our country is now also turning green on the covid map,’ Van Gucht continues. This is because there is a decrease in every province. ‘In Limburg, the number of infections has even fallen by 36 percent. Walloon Brabant is the province that is currently doing the worst, but the figures there too are falling by 11 percent.’
The number of hospital admissions also continues to decline. By the end of this week, according to the Crisis Center, we will be below 75 admissions per day. The last time this number was this low was before the second wave in the fall.
There are currently 438 people in an intensive care unit. By mid-June there should be less than 300.
The number of deaths also continues to fall. Most deaths occur in the age group 65 to 74. There is also a decrease in the number of deaths in the over-80s.
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