COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium
The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to Belgium on 4 February 2020.
| COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium | |
|---|---|
 Map of Belgium and its provinces with the spread of COVID-19 as of 12 May 2020[1]
| |
 Confirmed cases per 10.000 inhabitants by province (as of 18 April 2020)
< 23
23–30
30–37
37–44
44–51
51+ | |
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Belgium |
| First outbreak | Wuhan, Hubei, China[2] |
| Index case | Brussels |
| Arrival date | 3 February 2020 (4 years, 8 months, 3 weeks and 2 days ago) |
| Confirmed cases | 54,288[nb 1][3] |
| Recovered | 14,111[nb 2][3] |
Deaths | 8,903[3] (including 3,721 suspected cases) [nb 3] 4,242 in hospitals (including 187 suspected cases) |
| Government website | |
| www | |
Cases
changeThe first case was when a Belgian national out of a group of nine Belgians came from Wuhan to Brussels was reported to have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.[4][5]
The disease spreading within Belgium was then confirmed early March, and was linked to holidaymakers returning from Northern Italy at the end of the half-term holidays.[6][7]
As of 14 May 2020, there had been 54,288 confirmed cases reported by the Belgian authorities, with a total of 8,924 deaths and 14,111 discharged patients. As of 14 May, 1,966 people in Belgian hospitals were suffering from COVID-19, including 407 in intensive care.[8] The actual number of victims could have been higher due to limited testing.[9]
Notes
change- ↑ The actual number of infections is estimated to be much higher than the number of cases confirmed by a laboratory test.
- ↑ The official reports do not refer to recovered people but to discharged patients.
- ↑ The total number of death cases in Belgium also includes suspected death cases, including those in foster and care homes where only 23% of the reported death cases have been confirmed as CoVID-19 positive.
It is important to note that in many other countries, the reported deaths following a CoVID-19 infections are only accounted for when they occur in hospital. This is an important note for comparison purposes.
References
change- ↑ "COVID-19 - Epidemiologische situatie" (PDF). Sciensano. 13 May 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 March 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ↑ David Cyranoski (26 February 2020). "Mystery deepens over animal source of coronavirus". Nature. 579 (7797): 18–19. Bibcode:2020Natur.579...18C. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00548-w. PMID 32127703.
- ↑ "One repatriated Belgian has tested positive for the novel coronavirus". Federal Public Service (FPS) Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment. 4 February 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
- ↑ "COVID-19 Belgian leaves hospital". VRT NWS. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- ↑ "6 new cases of Covid-19 by the end of the spring holidays". info-coronavirus.be. Federal Public Service for Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment. 2 March 2020. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
- ↑ Lisa Bradshaw (2 March 2020). "Seven confirmed coronavirus cases in Belgium following holiday week". Flanders Today. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
- ↑ "COVID-19 –BULLETIN EPIDEMIOLOGIQUE DU 14 MAY 2020" (PDF). epidemio.wiv-isp.be. 14 May 2020.
- ↑ Qiu, Jane (20 March 2020). "Covert coronavirus infections could be seeding new outbreaks". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00822-x. PMID 32203376. S2CID 214629145. Retrieved 5 April 2020.