The COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium has resulted in 4,908,829 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 34,339 deaths.
The virus was confirmed to have spread to Belgium on 4 February 2020, when one of a group of nine Belgians repatriated from Wuhan to Brussels was reported to have tested positive for the coronavirus. Transmission within Belgium was confirmed in early March; authorities linked this to holidaymakers returning from Northern Italy at the end of the half-term holidays. The epidemic increased rapidly in March–April 2020. By the end of March all 10 provinces of the country had registered cases.
By March 2021, Belgium had the third highest number of COVID-19 deaths per head of population in the world, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. However, Belgium may have been over-reporting the number of cases, with health officials reporting that suspected cases were being reported along with confirmed cases. Unlike some countries that publish figures based primarily on confirmed hospital deaths, the death figures reported by the Belgian authorities included deaths in the community, such as in care homes, confirmed to have been caused by the virus, as well as a much larger number of such deaths suspected to have been caused by the virus, even if the person was not tested.
Background
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. First reports of COVID-19 started to appear in the Belgian media around 8 January.
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. (see statistics below)
Timeline
February 2020 – first case
On 2 February, nine Belgian nationals living in Hubei were repatriated on an evacuation flight landing at Melsbroek Air Base close to Brussels before being transferred to the Military Hospital of Neder-Over-Heembeek, where they underwent a 14-day quarantine and were tested for infection with the virus. On 4 February, it was announced that one of the repatriated had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the first case in Belgium. The patient, an asymptomatic 54-year-old male, was then transferred to St. Peter's Hospital in Brussels, one of the two referral centres in the country.
On 21 February, a group of ten Belgian citizens were allowed to return to Belgium after having been constrained on the MS Westerdam cruise ship for several days.
On 24 February, following the spread of COVID-19 in northern Italy, 100 Belgian citizens were put in quarantine in the H10 Costa Adeje Palace in Tenerife that was put on lockdown. Fifteen of them were allowed to travel back to Belgium on 28 February and the remainder on 5 March, without having been tested for the coronavirus upon arrival.
March 2020 – spread
On 1 March, a second case was confirmed in Belgium, a Dutch-speaking woman who had returned from Crépy-en-Valois in one of the regions affected in France.
The yearly one week school holiday around carnival lasted from 22 February until 1 March 2020. Many people go on ski vacation during that period, and the number of detected virus infections rose sharply upon the return of people from holidays in affected areas.
On 2 March, six additional cases, making a total of eight, had been diagnosed. Five were found in Flanders and one in Brussels, all six infected people having come back from Northern Italy.
As of 3 March, six further cases were confirmed, making a total of 14 cases. Amongst the new cases, a 17-year from Tienen and one person from Sint-Niklaas returned from a ski vacation in northern Italy, a person from Verviers, two cases from Couthuin and a 65-year-old male from Eupen who presented relatively severe symptoms and had not been to any of the regions with a higher risk of infection. Steven Van Gucht of the Scientific Committee predicted that in the worst-case scenario the epidemic would cause 13,000 virus infections, with 2,000 to 3,000 hospitalisations and 500 to 700 patients in intensive care. In a later interview van Gucht refined his opinion, adding that 70% of the population (approximately 8 million persons) could become infected.
By 4 March 10 new cases were confirmed, making a total of 23. Nine of the new infected individuals had recently returned from Italy. The other patient had had contact with a prior case. Four cases were in the Leuven area, one case in Hasselt, and one in Pelt. In Wevelgem, a family and a primary school teacher were diagnosed with the coronavirus upon their return from the North of Italy. The Flemish Agency for Care and Health advised the school not to close down. A retirement home in Gooik stopped receiving visitors after discovering that one of its employees could have been in contact with the coronavirus, a precaution the Flemish Agency for Care and Health qualified as inappropriate and "excessive".
On 4 March, the European Defence Agency (EDA) confirmed that a staff member had tested positive for coronavirus, marking the first confirmed case in the agencies of the European Union. He had returned from Italy the previous week and attended a meeting with about thirty other European Union officials before he had started to feel ill. A military staff member of the European External Action Service who attended the meeting then also began to experience symptoms. The EDA cancelled all meetings until 13 March, and other EU institutions also took precautions.
On 5 March 27 new confirmed cases were reported by the government (16 in Flanders, nine in Wallonia and two in Brussels), bringing the total to 50. Of the 50 people then infected one had recovered, 48 were quarantined in their homes and one person was being treated in the Sint-Pietersziekenhuis. The new cases were reported to be in Knokke-Heist, Zonhoven, Doomkerke (Ruiselede) and Vlierzele (part of Sint-Lievens-Houtem).
On 6 March 59 new cases were reported by the government, bringing the total to 109 (65 in Flanders, 12 in Brussels, 31 in Wallonia and one recovered). The new cases were amongst others reported in Oosterzele and Sint-Katelijne-Waver. The Federal Public Service Health then confirmed for the first time that infections had occurred in Belgium.
On 7 March 60 new cases were confirmed by the government (40 in Flanders, five in Brussels and 15 in Wallonia), bringing the total to 169 (105 in Flanders, 17 in Brussels, 46 in Wallonia and one recovered). The new cases were amongst others reported in Houthalen, Melle, Lokeren, Mere, Lede, Tildonk and Poppel. The Federal Public Service Health mentioned generally that "more and more infections are being contracted locally" but did not provide information on how many.
From 422 samples analysed on 7 March 31 were reported positive on 8 March (16 in Flanders, eight in Brussels and seven in Wallonia), bringing the number of infections to 200. The Federal Public Service Health then reported local circulation of the virus in different parts of the country.
On 10 March, the total number of confirmed cases was 267.
On 11 March, the first death on Belgian territory due to COVID-19 was reported, of a 90-year-old female patient from Brussels who was being treated in Etterbeek. Two more patients died on the same day, one aged 73, and one of 86 who died in Sint-Genesius-Rode.
On 12 March, two new infections were detected as well as 32 suspected cases in retirement home Ter Kameren in Watermael-Boitsfort, one of the biggest retirement homes of the Brussels region. The total number of confirmed cases rose to 399. Approximately 20 patients out of those 399 were being treated in intensive care. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen informed the entire staff that seven of their colleagues had tested positive, six of them in Belgium. She also instructed "all colleagues in non-critical functions" to work from home with immediate effect until 5 April, while those "who ensure critical functions" would need to work in two shifts to minimize the risk of contagion.
By 14 March 689 cases were confirmed with four deaths.
On 21 March it was observed that more than half of the patients in the hospital Oost-Limburg in Genk were of Turkish origin. Secretary of State Zuhal Demir urged the Turkish community in Limburg to abide by the quarantine measures.
On 26 March, Sciensano published a map that showed that the highest recorded concentrations of infections were found in Alken and Sint-Truiden (Limburg) and Quévy and Honnelles (Hainaut). The hotspot in Alken is thought to have been caused because of two parties that were allowed to gather over the weekend of 7 March. The mayor of Sint-Truiden, who was herself infected by the new coronavirus, mentioned she did not understand the reason for the high incidence in her town. The high level of cases in the affluent municipality of Bonheiden is thought to be linked with the number of travellers who had returned from ski resorts in the North of Italy around the beginning of March. While the high incidence in Honnelles could be linked to an outbreak in a centre for disabled people, the mayor of Quévy had no idea what caused the large outbreak in her municipality but complained of the lack of communication and protective equipment.
On the daily press conference of 27 March Van Gucht announced that a cat had been infected by its owner. This was only the third time the infection of a companion animal by its human companion had been reported worldwide. The cat had developed respiratory and digestive problems.
The additional number of people reported as having tested positive for the novel coronavirus peaked on 28 March compared to the previous days. The peak occurred because more persons were being tested and because a major Walloon laboratory that had not reported any cases up to that point then belatedly reported 500 additional cases from a past period.
As of 29 March, around 20,000 Belgian citizens were stuck abroad due to travel restrictions worldwide, many in Peru, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
On 30 March, it was announced that because of the high burden on some hospitals in the provinces of Limburg and Hainaut, a dispersal plan for ICU patients had been activated.
Jan Eyckmans of the Federal Public Service Health claimed hospitals increased their number of ICUs from 1900 to 2650 over a period of two weeks time, corresponding to an increase from 16.5 to 23.0 ICUs per 100,000 inhabitants. However, on the daily press conference of the Belgian National Crisis Centre of 28 March Dr Emmanuel André of the UZ Leuven mentioned that the number of 789 ICUs corresponded to 43% of the capacity, bringing the total capacity to 1835 instead of 2650, while Dr Van Gucht quoted the capacity as 2081 units. The newspaper De Standaard mentioned the number of 1765 on 31 March and 2393 on 3 April.
April 2020 – first peak
At the end of March, it became clear that the peak of the only wave thus far of the pandemic within the country was expected in early April. On 8 April, a drop in the number of active hospitalisations could be seen, which meant that a peak in them, and thus perhaps in infections, had been reached a couple days earlier. The mortality peak would follow a bit later, and was retrospectively observed to have occurred on 12 April. The peak was 417 deaths in 24 hours.
On 1 June Belgium's Prince Joachim issued a public apology following news that he tested positive for COVID-19 after he attended a party in Spain, in violation of the country's lockdown.
May 2020
Starting 4 May 2020, Belgium began gradually to ease the lockdown measures, which were the measures taken from 18 March to combat the spread of the coronavirus. For example, as of 11 May, all shops are allowed to be open for the public but under certain conditions (e.g. visits are limited to 30 minutes).
Cafes and restaurants were allowed to be open as of 8 June.
June 2020
In June, 10,000 people demonstrated in Brussels, in the Black Lives Matter demonstration, with corona measures still in place. It was strongly disapproved by Minister President of Flanders Jan Jambon who called it detrimental to the spread of the virus.
July 2020
21 July, three Chiro Flanders youth camps were canceled in West Flanders and Antwerp because 11 leaders were found to be infected.
On 25 July new regulations made it compulsory to wear face coverings in most indoor spaces and busy outdoor spaces. Visitors to a pub have to wear face coverings at least until they have found a seat. Those breaking the rules could be fined up to 250 Euros.
On 27 July, the government published new social distancing rules to come into effect in Belgium from 29 July, whereby the number of closer contacts of separate households was restricted to a group of maximum 5 people (the so-called "bubble of five"). With people who are not part of your bubble, safety distance had to be respected. People could only go to a restaurant within their family and within the bubble.
On 28 July, in response to a flare-up in Antwerp, measures are being tightened locally. E.g. a curfew is being imposed for the entire province. Individuals are required to stay in their homes from 11.30 pm to 6 am. It lasted 1 month.