A 12-year-old girl died of coronavirus in Belgium, the country's health authorities announced during their daily report on the pandemic on Tuesday.
"This is a very rare event, but one that upsets us," said Dr. Emmanuel André, a spokesperson for the authorities. The teenager, "tested positive" for coronavirus, had had a fever for three days, said another spokesperson, Steven Van Gucht.
Exceptional deaths among young people
This is the first time that the death of a child has been reported in Belgium, where a total of 705 people died as a result of the new coronavirus, according to official figures. Last week, the death of a 16-year-old French teenager in the Paris region had aroused great emotion in France.
Deaths from Covid-19 disease are fortunately exceptional among young people, but "severe forms of the disease resulting in hospitalization, including intensive care, or leading to death can occur in adults of all ages", warned US health officials in a report.
Over 12,000 people infected
No other details were given on this young Belgian victim, counted in a new census of nearly 200 additional deaths compared to the figures communicated Monday - 513 deaths in total linked to the pandemic - by the crisis unit of the health authorities.
There were in the space of 24 hours, 98 additional deaths linked to the pandemic in Belgium, to which are added 94 other interveners in the previous days and not yet counted, said Emmanuel André. In this country of 11.4 million inhabitants, the authorities recorded Tuesday 12,775 confirmed cases of new coronavirus. A total of 4,920 people were hospitalized, including 1,021 in intensive care, it was stressed during a press conference.
"A more complicated situation" in the north of the country
Hospitals in the Brussels region and the provinces of Limburg (North) and Hainaut (West) are experiencing "a more complicated situation," said Dr. André. In the United States, 20-44 year olds represent 29% of confirmed cases, 20% of patients hospitalized for Covid-19 and 12% of cases admitted to intensive care, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ) covering 2,500 patients listed until March 16.
Those under 20 were much less present, with less than 1% of hospitalizations and no intensive care patient. In France, among the nearly 14,000 cases confirmed on March 20, 30.6% were between 15 and 44 years old, according to data published last Thursday by Santé publique France.
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