19 April 2021: Ghent turns pink for the second time during the corona pandemic…

19 April 2021: During the week from 9 to 15 April an average of 3,529 people tested positive each day. This is 1% down on the week. However, during the same period the number of tests was also down 14% on the previous week. Of those, 10% tested positive for the virus. Any positivity rate above 5% is considered to give cause for concern according to the WHO. The reproduction ratio for the coronavirus in Belgium currently stands at 0.94. The number of COVID patients in Belgian hospitals is back below 3,000, but pressure on ICU’s remains high. There are currently between 100 and 200 ICU beds free in the whole country. COVID and non-COVID beds included. There are traffic accident victims, people that have to undergo major operations, people that have had heart attacks or cerebral haemorrhages, but also organ transplantations and cancer operations. All these patients need to be accommodated in these few available beds. In summary, the situation on ICU’s remains a major concern. The good news is that during the next two weeks Belgium can expect to take delivery of more than 1.2 million doses of coronavirus vaccine. The extra deliveries of Pfizer could possibly compensate for J&J in sheer numbers, but Pfizer requires two doses. Also, the amount of time between the vaccines being delivered here and them being used continues to shorten. A month ago, it took an average of 19 days between a vaccine being delivered and it being used. Currently this is 9 days. The Vaccination Task Force says that the aim is to shorten this period still further. Meanwhile, it’s the second time we’re enjoying the cherry trees in bloom during this unprecedented crisis – Ghent, Belgium.