Record numbers testing positive for coronavirus
The latest figures released by the public health science institute Sciensano show another sharp rise in the 7-day rolling average of the number of people testing positive for the novel coronavirus. What’s more on Wednesday 7 October there were almost 6,000 positive tests, a figure never reached before, not even at the height of the first wave.
The number of COVID-19 patients being hospitalised also continues to rise as does the number of people dying after having contacted the virus.
· During the week from 1 to 7 October an average of 3,749 people per day in Belgium tested positive for coronavirus. This is an 89% increase on the 7-day rolling average for the previous week. On Wednesday 7 October almost 6,000 people tested positive.
· During the week from 4 to 10 October an average of 119 people per day were admitted to Belgian hospitals with COVID-19. This is 67% up on the average number of admissions during the previous week (27 September – 3 October).
· On Saturday 10 October 160 COVID-19 patients were admitted to Belgian hospitals. There are currently 1,257 patients with COVID-19 that are being cared for in Belgian hospitals. Of these 226 are on intensive care wards and 98 are on ventilators.
· During the week from 1 to 7 October there were an average of 15 deaths per day from COVID-19. This is almost double the rolling average of 8 deaths per day for the previous week (24-30 September).
· During the week from 1 to 7 October and average of 37,300 coronavirus tests were carried out each day.
· An average of 10% of the tests carried out during this period were positive.