Belgium still records over 2,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals: Reports

Belgium is still recording just over 2,000 Covid-19 patients in hospital, but all Covid-19 indicators continue to drop steadily, according to the figures published by the Sciensano Health Institute on Friday.

Between 26 April & 2 May, an average of 4,483 new daily Covid-19 infections were reported, a 31% drop from the previous seven days. The positivity rate now sits at 26.2%, meaning just over one out of four tests have a positive result.

The highly contagious Omicron variant, Omicron BA.2, now accounts for 95.2% of all cases.

In the same week, an average of 16.6 patients suffering from Covid-19 died on a daily basis, down by 9% from the last week. The overall number of deaths in Belgium since the start of the pandemic amounts to 31,552.

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

Between 29 April and 5 May, an average of 134 patients suffering from Covid-19 were admitted to hospitals each day – down 16% from the last 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 Thursday, a total of 2,016 people were in Belgian hospitals due to an infection, 17% less than last week. At the same time, the overall number of people being treated in intensive care(ICU) sits at 122 (-11). The number of patients in intensive care(ICU) has remained below 200 since 9 March.

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