Let's protect eachother against respiratory infections.

Correction of the death toll

1. Trends

The development of the epidemic is monitored by using a 7-day average and in comparison to the infection events of the previous week. This method enables us to clearly show the respective trends, regardless of the fluctuations in the daily figures.

All figures included in this image are available via d34j62pglfm3rr.cloudfront.net/downloads/news/numbers_20200826_EN.pdf

Today the number of deaths has been corrected. This is because the Flemish Agency for Care and Health has requested additional epidemiological data on individual deaths in Flemish nursing homes retroactively. This survey was carried out in 830 nursing homes in Flanders and Brussels and covers deaths between the age of 18 March and 2 June 2020. The results of this survey provide further information on the profile of the 2 663 residents of the Flemish nursing homes who died from COVID-19 during the first three months of the epidemic (27% of the total number of COVID-19 deaths).

Here are the main adjustments and conclusions following the review of the new data by Sciensano :

  • There were 121 fewer deaths in nursing homes than originally reported (120 fewer deaths in Flanders and 1 less in Brussels). The total number of deaths in the population caused by COVID-19 is therefore revised downwards and now stands at 9 878.
  • The peak of COVID-19 deaths shifts from 12 to 8 April. On 8 April, 321 people died in Belgium as a result of COVID-19. This shift is due to the availability of the exact death data from the survey conducted by the Agency for Care and Health, which means that these deaths are no longer classified according to the date of reporting to the Agency for Care and Health.
  • 54% of the deceased were aged 85 years or older There are more women than men in this age group. This can be explained by the fact that women over 85 are in the majority in the population and also in nursing homes. All deaths caused by COVID-19 taken together, the distribution between women and men is 53%/47%.

See the complete daily report of the epidemiological situation of COVID-19.

Figures are constantly being updated. Figures for the same period, from different editions of the daily report, may therefore differ slightly.

CURRENT LOCAL INFECTION SITUATION

To track the infection at a local level, visit our website, which shows the situation in each municipality. It contains data on the incidence of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 per municipality based on 3 indicators:

  • 7-day cumulative incidence (number of new infections in the last 7 days divided by the population of the specific municipality, multiplied by 100,000);
  • Number of consecutive days on which at least one new infection was reported;
  • Number of days on which there is an increase in new infections compared to the previous day, over a period of 7 days.

2. Daily figures

The daily figures are available online via the Sciensano COVID-19 dashboard.

The corresponding Open Data records can be downloaded from our website.

Dashboard and datasets are updated daily at 04.00 am.

The press release (daily) and the epidemiological report (Tuesday-Saturday) are published at 9 a.m. each time.

The number of new infections is also updated at the weekend. The two longer-term indicators, hospital admissions and deaths, are only updated during the week.

The virus has not disappeared from Belgian territory. Keep on following the tips to protect yourself and your family.

If you are ill (fever, coughing, respiratory problems, etc.), then please follow the advice of the FPS Public Health and: