Crisis Center: ‘The situation can no longer be put into perspective or …

Between September 25 and October 1, an average of 2,103.3 new corona infections were confirmed daily in Belgium. The hoped-for stabilization of the figures has not materialized. ‘We are also seeing a worrying increase among the over-90s’, it sounds.

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‘Unfortunately, we have noticed an acceleration in the number of new infections in recent days. The stabilization that we had planned for last week has not continued. On the contrary: we again see a clear increase in all cases, in all provinces and at all ages, ‘says virologist Steven Van Gucht. ‘Belgium is following the evolution that we are also seeing in the Netherlands and France.’

Over the past week, an average of 2,103 new cases were diagnosed per day in Belgium. That is an increase of 32 percent compared to the week before. On Wednesday, September 30, we even more than passed the milestone of 3,000 new cases in one day, ”Van Gucht continues.

The highest number of infections still occurs in the 20-year-olds, followed closely by the older teens. The number of infections decreases proportionally with age, but does also increase with older ages. We see, among other things, an alarming increase among the over-nineties. ‘ Since the beginning of September, the number of cases in that age category has almost tenfold, it sounds. ‘This is alarming, because it concerns a very vulnerable age group.’

Provinces

There are increases in all provinces, but the increases currently appear to be greatest in the Walloon provinces. ‘With peaks of plus 95 percent in Namur and plus 67 percent in the province of Luxembourg. We continue to observe the highest number of new cases in the Brussels-Capital Region. Here, 466 new cases were diagnosed per day in recent weeks, an increase of 37 percent. ‘

Four Brussels municipalities account for more than 10 percent of the number of new infections that were diagnosed in the past week. These are Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Brussels-City, Schaerbeek and Anderlecht.

‘The second highest number of cases is found in the province of Antwerp’, the virologist continues. This concerns an average of 294 new cases per day. “That’s a modest increase of four percent.”

Last week, there were an average of 77 new hospital admissions per day. That’s an increase of 21 percent from the week before. The number of covid patients treated in intensive care is also increasing. ‘ Currently, it concerns 186 patients who are on intensive care. That is 38 percent more than the week before. 52 patients, or about a third of the total, are currently treated in Brussels hospitals. There are currently 33 covid patients in hospitals in Antwerp, 27 in Liège and 18 in East Flanders and Hainaut each.

Deaths are also increasing. The number of reported deaths doubled in the past week. It went from 4.7 deaths per day to 9.4.

Roadmap for covid patients

Van Gucht also provided an explanation of the step-by-step plan that should receive covid patients in optimal conditions. ‘In the first place, we want to safeguard the normal operation of our hospitals as much as possible.’

‘The intention is to relieve and spread the workload of hospital staff. The step-by-step plan must lead to solidarity between our hospitals. Covid patients will be distributed equally among hospitals throughout our country. ‘ The plan has different phases, ranging from phase 0, 1a, 1b, 2a to 2b.

In the first phase, 15 percent of the available intensive care beds in each hospital are reserved for covid patients. In addition, each hospital also provides four times that capacity of beds for patients who do not require intensive care. In the final phase, this means immediate availability for the whole of Belgium of 300 beds in intensive care and 1,200 beds in the ordinary Covid ward. The hospitals can continue to function normally and there are more than enough beds for all types of treatments and interventions. ‘

‘Today there are 180 covid patients in intensive care and 866 in the ordinary care unit in our country. If the number of covid patients increases, the plan also provides for an increase in the number of beds in intensive care and in the normal covid wards in the next phase. ‘

From phase 2, additional beds will be created for covid patients. We are currently still in phase 0 or phase 1, depending on the hospital. In the highest phase of the plan, we will need more than 2,000 beds in intensive care, and an additional 8,000 beds will be released in the regular Covid ward. However, when we have to scale up to such a higher phase because the number of patients increases, it can have an impact on the normal functioning of the hospital. We want to avoid that for as long as possible, ‘says Van Gucht.

To do that, the number of infections must be kept as low as possible. ‘Everyone plays an important role in this, namely by following the six golden basic rules.’ But our country also hopes to avoid a hospital ending up in the highest phase of the step-by-step plan for as long as possible via a dynamic distribution plan. For example, it is currently busier in a number of hospitals in Flemish Brabant and Brussels. Instead of having those hospitals move to the next stage in the roadmap, patients are referred to hospitals in other provinces. A Department of Defense medical team is assisting with the transportation of those patients.

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