The rate of COVID-19 infections continues to make a slight improvement; however, the number of people dying due to the virus continues to spike, numbering almost 14 per day.
Between July 23 and 29, an average of 3,972 fresh daily COVID-19 infections were identified, down 7% from the last seven days, as per figures published by the Sciensano Institute of Public Health on Tuesday morning.
The average number of tests which have been taken per day remains similar to last week, at around 13,800. The positivity rate remains high compared to one month ago and sits at 31.6%, meaning around three in ten tests has a positive result.
Omicron BA.5 remains the dominant strain, which accounts for 77.5% of all infections. The strain is considered to be no more or less infectious than the other Omicron subvariants but is effective at circumventing people’s accumulated immunity.
While other major Covid-19 indicators are dropping, the number of deaths as a result of infection remains high, with 13.7 Covid-19 patients dying each day over the past seven days – up 25% from the previous week and the highest since the start of May.
The total number of casualties in Belgium since the start of the pandemic is 32,263. However, this includes people who died of another cause but who happened to be infected, meaning that it is an overestimate of deaths attributed to Covid-19.
In the last 7 days, an average of 127.6 patients suffering from Covid-19 were admitted to hospitals each day – a 21% decrease from the previous seven days, and down from 150 on Friday last week.
The figure shows the number of people are hospitalised directly due to the virus, not those admitted with some another condition and then also test positive for Covid-19.
On Monday, a total of 1,901 people were in Belgian hospitals due to an infection, almost 100 fewer than on Friday last week, while the number of people being treated in intensive care sits at 124, around 20 more than last week.
This number covers all patients who have tested positive for Covid-19, including those who were first admitted with a different condition.
