As Covid-19 cases continue to increase slightly, the flu epidemic, which began in December, is slowly coming to an end, the Sciensano Public Health Institute said Friday morning in its weekly bulletin.
During the week of March 6 to 12, the number ofinfections by the coronavirus increased by 12% compared to the previous seven days, and 12,245 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 were diagnosed.
The number of news hospitalizations has also increased, with a growth of 10% for the period from March 9 to 15, including 1,156 hospitalizations for Covid-19, and 901 patients hospitalized for other reasons, but presenting a positive test.
The number of patients in intensive care is also up (33%), with a total of 132 coronavirus patients occupying a bed.
Covid-related mortality remained stable, with seven daily deaths.
Also on the rise, the number of tests carried out reached an average of 6,484 screenings per day for the period from March 6 to 12, an increase of 29.5% compared to the previous week. THE reproduction rateof 1.047 for this period, is slightly decreasing, but remains above 1, which means that the epidemic tends to accelerate.
Sciensano also indicates that while the incidence of general practitioner consultations for confirmed flu increased during the week of March 6 to 12, and that the epidemic is therefore still ongoing, it is nevertheless close to the epidemic threshold and is approaching its end.