Officials in Belgium said Monday they believe the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in the country has passed as the number of patients admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 symptoms has sharply declined.
Belgium has reported 39,983 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, 5,828 deaths and 8,895 recoveries, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Belgium has a population of 11.4 million.
“There are several indicators that are going in the right direction and that continue to go in the right direction,” said Emmanuel Andre, the spokesperson for the country’s response to the pandemic, during a televised news conference Monday.
The country on Sunday saw the lowest number of new hospital admittance for coronavirus symptoms in a month with 232 people taken in for care, Reuters reported.
“We are going towards what is called de-confinement,” Mr. Andre continued. “That is to say a progressive enlargement of the safety zone around us so now we’re thinking about how to organize this.”
