Coronavirus has infected 138,097 people as of March 13, 5,069 of which have died so far. Belgium has the 11th highest number of infections of any European country at 556, three of which have died. Express.co.uk have compiled a guide for which regions have been worst hit by the deadly virus.
Coronavirus is now affecting more than 130 countries and territories around the world.
Several countries are implementing stringent measures to protect their nationals such as implementing travel restrictions, cancelling sporting events and closing schools.
The viral outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) this week, with experts estimating the number of cases will reach in the hundreds of thousands.
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How bad is the coronavirus outbreak in Belgium?
Belgium activated emergency measures to contain the outbreak of coronavirus this week.
The Belgian National Security Council decided to declare a state of emergency over the entire country.
Under the new emergency measures, all recreational and sports events will be cancelled or postponed until April 3.
Public places such as restaurants, bars, cafes and nightclubs are also ordered to close from Friday at midnight local time to April 3.
Schools in Belgium will be closed as of Monday, with a daycare service maintained for working parents with no alternative options.
Belgium’s caretaker Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès said the emergency measures were not equivalent to the Italy lockdown.
Ms Wilmès advised citizens from stockpiling, she said: “It is not reasonable to storm the stores and empty the shelves”.
Shops offering basic goods such as medicine and food will remain open as normal, while other shops are permitted to stay open during the week but must close during the weekend.
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The National Crisis Centre confirmed 153 new cases had been confirmed on Friday.
Professor Steven Van Gucht told Brussel Times: “This new number is an underestimation.”
He added the current state of play regarding coronavirus is just the beginning of the epidemic.
He said: “The effect of the measures we are taking now will only show itself in the number of cases in a week or two.”
In total, there are 556 confirmed cases of a novel coronavirus in Belgium, of those three have died.
Belgium has seen one person fully recover, while 552 are still active cases, two of which are deemed as in serious or critical condition.
The first case, an asymptomatic 54-year-old man, was confirmed on February 4 in Brussels.
Since that time, 555 additional cases have been diagnosed in Belgium, with three deaths reported this week.
Unlike its neighbouring European countries, the Belgian authorities are unwilling to provide any information or statistics on where cases are located, beyond statistics for each region.
Such as:
- Flanders: 230
- Brussels: 42
- Wallonia: 78
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