Belgium's high mortality rate from Covid-19 due to 'honest reporting'

Belgium reported 79 more deaths from coronavirus today, bringing up the total number to 7,844 so far. This represents a rate of 665 people per million, the highest rate recorded so far in the world. The corresponding figure in the US is 193; in Spain, 525; and in Italy, 463.

However, Belgian authorities insist that the high rate is due to "honest reporting" rather than a genuinely higher rate of mortality; Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes has stated that the government "made the choice of full transparency when communicating deaths linked to Covid-19," even if it resulted in "numbers that are sometimes overestimated."

Most countries only report deaths as due to coronavirus if the deceased actually tested positive; however, such tests are not always conducted, especially in deaths that occurred in retirement homes. Almost half of Belgium's reported deaths are in retirement homes.

The Telegraph quotes a leading Belgian virologist, Steven Van Gucht, as stating: "We often get criticism -- oh, you’re making Belgium look bad -- we think it’s the opposite," he said. "If you want to compare our numbers with a lot of other countries, you basically have to cut them in half," he told Bloomberg News.