The Crisis Center took stock of the worrying health situation in the country, a few hours away from a new consultation committee.
Lhen of the second and last press conference of the week, the experts from the Crisis Center took stock of the worrying epidemiological situation in Belgium, a few hours before a new consultation committee was held.
According to Yves Van Laethem and Steven Van Gucht, citing figures updated Friday morning by the Sciensano Public Health Institute, the number of hospital admissions is up 27% with an average of 185.1 between the March 12 and 18, compared to the previous week. The number of people hospitalized is 2,140, including 543 patients treated in intensive care. “We would reach a threshold of 1000 intensive care patients on April 10, the highest threshold that we can tolerate,” warned Yves Van Laethem.
“At the foot of what could become a new wave”
“After a long plateau phase, we are today at the foot of what could become a new wave. It is still possible to transform a wave into a ripple, ”commented Yves Van Laethem. He added: “This is why the Consultation Committee is meeting today to discuss possible new measures”. In addition, the French-speaking interfederal spokesperson therefore calls more than ever to monitor health measures as well as conventional barrier gestures.
Still according to interfederal spokespersons, between March 9 and 15, 3,266 new coronavirus infections were recorded on average each day, up 34% compared to the previous week. The increase in the number of infections occurs in all age groups except those over 90 years old. There is a decrease of 5%. The increase is most significant in children (+ 60%) and adolescents (+ 56%), said Yves Van Laethem. Since the start of the crisis, 822,801 cases of coronavirus have been identified.
Variants
In addition, Namur, Hainaut, East Flanders and the Brussels region are the parts of the country most affected. The British variant is becoming more and more dominant, while the South African variant is losing ground slightly, experts from the Crisis Center also added.
The positivity rate is 7%, against 6.8% previously.
Between March 9 and March 15, an average of 49,100 tests were performed daily, up 11% from the previous week.
The reproduction rate (Rt) of the coronavirus also continues to increase, from 1.12 to 1.16 on Friday. When it is greater than 1, it means that the transmission of the virus is accelerating.
Between March 9 and March 15, nearly 23 people (22.9) died on average per day from the virus, bringing the toll to 22,624 deaths since the start of the pandemic in Belgium. This represents an increase of 24 units from Thursday.