Belgium: COVID-19 patients in hospitals drops below 2,000, says reports

Since the beginning of March, the total number of Covid-19 patients in Belgian hospitals has dropped below 2,000, according to figures published by the Sciensano Institute of Public Health on Tuesday.

Between 30 April and 6 May, an average of 4,413 new daily Covid-19 infections were identified, an 8% drop from the previous seven days. The positivity rate now sits at 24.7%, meaning that only one in four(4) tests have a positive result.

The highly contagious Omicron variant, Omicron BA.2, now accounts for 95.1% of all cases.

During the same week, an average of 14.6 patients suffering from Covid-19 died on a daily basis, down by 7% from the past week. The overall number of deaths in Belgium since the start of the pandemic amounts to 31,580.

This figure also consists of people who died of another reason of death, but who happened to be infected, which means there may be an overestimate of Covid-19 deaths caused by the virus.

Between 3 & 9 May, an average of 125.4 patients suffering from Covid-19 were admitted to hospitals each day – down 10% from the past seven days.

This number shows how many people are hospitalised directly due to the virus, not those who are admitted with another condition & then test positive for Covid-19.

On Monday, a total of 1,894 people were in Belgian hospitals due to an infection, 122 fewer than last Friday. Meanwhile, the overall number of people being treated in intensive care sits at 126 (-7). The number of patients in intensive care(ICU) has dropped below 200 since 9 March.

This number covers all of the patients who tested positive for Covid-19, including those who were first admitted with a different condition.