Coronavirus death toll in Belgium tops 5,000

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - At least 313 more deaths from the coronavirus were seen in Belgium over the past 24 hours, health officials announced on Friday, bringing the tally to date to 5,163.

According to the latest data from the Federal Public Service of Health, as many as 1,329 new cases were reported.

Both the Flanders and Wallonia regions saw 44-44% of the new patients, while 11% of recent cases are from the capital, Brussels.

So far, six out of 10 patients have been from Flanders.

In total, 36,138 people have been infected in the country since the outbreak.

A total of 320 people were recently taken to hospital, while healthcare facilities discharged 399 patients.

Currently, 5,161 patients are being treated in hospitals, with 1,140 in intensive care units.

The federal government led by Sophie de Wilmes has recently been criticized for its handling of the crisis.

Her approval has significantly dropped among voters from Flanders.

The National Security Council decided on Tuesday to extend lockdown measures till 3 May with basically the same conditions applied past month.

One of the few changes is to allow elder home residents to see a visitor – a single visitor vetted to be in good health.

Flanders’ regional government decided to continue with the total ban on visits to nursing homes.

Philippe Devos, head of the alliance for healthcare workers trade unions, claims there is a severe medicine shortage in the country, but Federal Health Minister Maggie De Block has denied this.

Since appearing in China last December, the virus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.

More than 2.16 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, with over 145,000 deaths, and over 550,000 recoveries.