Both Covid and flu are on the rise in Belgium, according to the latest weekly report published Friday morning by the Institute of Public Health, Sciensano.
Thus, between January 30 and February 5, 4,946 cases of SARS-Cov-2 were diagnosed, which corresponds to an increase of 48% compared to the previous seven days. During this period, the number of tests carried out also increased, with an average of 5,515 tests carried out per day (+16%), of which 14.1% were found to be positive.
From February 2 to 8, the country’s hospitals admitted 471 Covid-19 patients and 440 patients who tested positive were treated for another reason, which represents an increase of 18% compared to the period. previous reference. Currently, 977 people carrying the virus are hospitalized (+18%). Among these, 43 people are treated in intensive care (-14%).
Every day, an average of 4.9 people died from the consequences of coronavirus infection (+21%). Since the start of the pandemic in Belgium in March 2020, more than 33,600 deaths from Covid-19 have been recorded.
The reproduction rate of the virus stands at 1.184. If it has decreased slightly, it remains above 1, which means that the epidemic tends to accelerate. The incidence, which provides the number of new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, reached 72 over 14 days.
The number of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections continued to fall below the epidemic threshold, according to Sciensano’s latest weekly report on acute respiratory infections. The RSV epidemic, which extended from mid-November to early January, is therefore over.
On the other hand, the flu epidemic is still in force. The incidence of consultations in general medicine for flu-like symptoms increased, during the week of January 30 to February 4, to 449 consultations per 100,000 inhabitants, which is significantly higher than the epidemic threshold of 52 consultations per 100,000 inhabitants.
“Covid and flu numbers are on the rise. The influenza epidemic will therefore probably follow a biphasic evolution with two peaks, the first of which already occurred at the end of December and the second of which will appear in the coming weeks, ”analyzes infectiologist Yves Van Laethem. “Fortunately, the hospital load remains relatively low,” he said.