several indicators are turning green, the epidemic seems to be stagnating
Stability: this is the word that best fits to always define the evolution of the figures of the Covid-19 epidemic in Belgium. After climbing a little in September, especially among young people, and in the region of Brussels and Liège, the number of cases detected tends to decrease very slowly. In fact, the numbers are coming down again among young people, but this is offset by a small increase in cases among those over 50 in general. And while it is now going down to Brussels and Liège, it is going back to other provinces, particularly Antwerp.
As for hospitalizations, it has also remained fairly stable since the start of the school year: for a month we have always fluctuated around 700 to 750 people hospitalized with Covid, of which a little more than 200 in care is intensifying. The movements observed in some provinces are then offset by others, and no situation is alarming. And after a slight increase in the average admissions from the average for a week, it seems to stabilize below 60 daily hospitalizations.
The increase observed in late August-early September in cases / admissions eventually materialized as a small increase in the number of deaths a month later, but here the situation seems to be stabilizing.
As for vaccination, it continues to advance but very slowly. We are now 73% of the population fully vaccinated, but still with significant differences depending on the region, Wallonia (70%) and especially Brussels (55%) still struggling to catch up with Flanders (80%).
The consolidated figures of the Sciensano table
Note: these figures are taken from updated data published by Sciensano in open data and put in table form here.
Cases detected¹ : between 29/09 and 5/10, 1898 new coronavirus infections were detected on average every day. This is a decrease of 1% compared to the previous week.
Testing : between 29/09 and 5/10, an average of 44,144 tests were performed daily, a total down 4% from the previous week.
Admissions : they amount on average to 57.6 between 2/10 and 8/10. This is a decrease of 2% compared to the previous week.
Hospitalized people² : 724 patients are currently hospitalized in connection with Covid-19, including 203 patients treated in care is intensifying.
Positivity rate³ : based on the results of the tests obtained between 29/09 and 5/10, it is 4.7%, up 0.1% from last week.
Reproduction rate : calculated on the basis of changes in admissions, the Rt of the coronavirus today stands at 0.99. When it is greater than 1, it means that the transmission of the virus is accelerating.
Death : between 29/09 and 5/10, 8.1 people died on average from the virus. Since the start of the epidemic, 25,675 people have died from the coronavirus.
¹ The cases detected are the number of patients for a positive test confirmed the presence of the virus. The date that is considered is the date of the diagnosis, not the test result. Data is considered consolidated after 4 days. The number of cases may depend in part on the testing strategy: if we test more systematically, we also detect more cases.
² Hospitalized patients include patients who have already been hospitalized for another reason and who have tested positive.
³ The positivity rate is the number of tests compared to the number of positive tests carried out. The same person can be tested several times. It also depends on the testing strategy: if we do not test enough, the positivity rate will be higher.