The British variant was first discovered at the end of 2020 in Kent and is more contagious than the original strain, which explains rising infections in Belgium.
Virologist Steven Van Gucht, a government spokesperson, confirmed that last week roughly 53% of current infections were caused by the British strain. The week before the Kent variant accounted for just 38% of cases.
This is the first time that said variant is responsible for the majority of cases. Other variants, such as the South-African and Brazilian account for a tiny fraction of cases, 2.2% and 0.9% respectively.
In France, the British strain is causing roughly half of all new infections. It is also the most dominant variant in Luxembourg.
The Belgian authorities who provide a daily update of the weekly averages registered an increase of 24% in cases compared to last week.
Van Gucht said that at 2,300 daily infections the country is now recording a level not seen for more than a month.
Cases are going up in all age groups, except for over 80-year-olds, which is owed to the vaccination drive that first jabbed care and retirement homes residents and staff.
Van Gucht also pointed out that hospitalisations are also up. Out of 1,761 Covid patients, 368 are in intensive care, which represents a surge of 17% compared to the week before.
Belgium has been severely hit by the pandemic. On Friday, the country of 11.5 million registered its 22,000th Covid death.
Belgium has been in a partial or soft lockdown for 4 months. Schools remained open, but bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues have been shut.
In addition, foreign travel has been banned since 27 January, a measure for which the government received heavy criticism from the EU Commission.
The recent uptick has come while there is a growing and increasingly vocal part of Belgium’s political class that are calling for restrictions to be eased or lifted. However, PM Alexander De Croo and health minister Frank Vandenbroucke both advocate for current measures to be maintained.
