A woman wearing a face mask walks on a street in Brussels, Belgium, on May 29, 2020. Belgium is seeing a downward trend of COVID-19 as 187 patients are currently in intensive care, less than 100 of whom need respiratory assistance, said Yves Van Laethem, an inter-federal spokesman in the fight against COVID-19, here at a press briefing on Friday. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)
BRUSSELS, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Belgium is seeing a downward trend of COVID-19 as 187 patients are currently in intensive care, less than 100 of whom need respiratory assistance, said Yves Van Laethem, an inter-federal spokesman in the fight against COVID-19, here at a press briefing on Friday.
There are a total of 187 patients in intensive care, which is a decrease of 22 patients in the past 24 hours. The decline trend of the virus therefore continues.
There were 212 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, according to Yves Van Laethem. This brings the total to 58,061 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Twenty-seven new hospitalizations have been recorded, according to the spokesman, and 42 deaths have been reported in the same 24 hours. The death toll in Belgium to date stands at 9,430.
The public health institute Sciensano conducted a serology study on 1,500 blood samples to monitor the possible development of antibodies against COVID-19 in the population in north and south Belgium. The study showed that the antibody level was 1.3 in mid-March and 4.8 in mid-April. The rate remained stable at 4.8 in mid-May.
"These antibodies no longer increased in mid-April or mid-May, reflecting the impact of the containment measures," Van Laethem said, adding "It would be interesting to monitor the status of this antibody level during the deconfinement phase." Enditem
