An emergency medical staff member works in Brussels, Belgium, on April 2, 2020. A further 183 patients had died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Belgium, raising the country's death toll to 1,011, according to fresh figures released Thursday by public health institute Sciensano. In the last 24 hours, Belgium also reported 1,384 new cases of confirmed coronavirus infection, taking the total to 15,348, according to Sciensano Institute which is in charge of monitoring and analyzing COVID-19 data collected from its network of partners. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)
BRUSSELS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A further 183 patients had died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Belgium, raising the country's death toll to 1,011, according to fresh figures released Thursday by public health institute Sciensano.
In the last 24 hours, Belgium also reported 1,384 new cases of confirmed coronavirus infection, taking the total to 15,348, according to Sciensano Institute which is in charge of monitoring and analyzing COVID-19 data collected from its network of partners.
After a drastic drop in the number of new cases observed on March 31, the curve of new cases, as well as that of new deaths, is on the rise.
The Sciensano Institute explained that this upward trend resulted from a combination of increased spread of the virus, a stricter definition of suspect cases, and the use of triage systems in the laboratories, which gave priority to the most urgent samples.
In addition, 6,716 COVID-19 patients were admitted to the hospital and 2,495 were discharged between March 15 and April 1.
Belgium detected the first case of the novel coronavirus infection in early February, when one of the nine returnees from Wuhan, China, tested positive for the virus. The Belgian was discharged from a hospital in Brussels on Feb. 15 after tests turned negative.
