ArticleEuro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin2021
Establishing an ad hoc COVID-19 mortality surveillance during the first epidemic wave in Belgium, 1 March to 21 June 2020.
Article in Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Estimating the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections by jointly modelling seroprevalence, hospitalization and mortality data, February 2020 - January 2021, Belgium.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- The overlapping impacts of heat and COVID-19 on mortality in Flanders, Belgium: a time-stratified case-crossover analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Translating the COVID-19 epidemiological situation into policies and measures: the Belgian experience.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Hospital medical care and the COVID-19 mortality in METEOR partner countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, And Poland).International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health · 2023Article
- The direct disease burden of COVID-19 in Belgium in 2020 and 2021.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Social inequalities and long-term health impact of COVID-19 in Belgium: protocol of the HELICON population data linkage.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Article
- Article
- Factors influencing SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in Belgian nursing home residents during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic.Epidemiology and infection · 2022Article
- COVID-19 mortality, excess mortality, deaths per million and infection fatality ratio, Belgium, 9 March 2020 to 28 June 2020.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2022Article
- COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Belgian nursing homes: results of a surveillance conducted between April and December 2020.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2022Article
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15 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BackgroundCOVID-19-related mortality in Belgium has drawn attention for two reasons: its high level, and a good completeness in reporting of deaths. An ad hoc surveillance was established to register COVID-19 death numbers in hospitals, long-term care facilities (LTCF) and the community. Belgium adopted broad inclusion criteria for the COVID-19 death notifications, also including possible cases, resulting in a robust correlation between COVID-19 and all-cause mortality.AimTo document and assess the COVID-19 mortality surveillance in Belgium.MethodsWe described the content and data flows of the registration and we assessed the situation as of 21 June 2020, 103 days after the first death attributable to COVID-19 in Belgium. We calculated the participation rate, the notification delay, the percentage of error detected, and the results of additional investigations.ResultsThe participation rate was 100% for hospitals and 83% for nursing homes. Of all deaths, 85% were recorded within 2 calendar days: 11% within the same day, 41% after 1 day and 33% after 2 days, with a quicker notification in hospitals than in LTCF. Corrections of detected errors reduced the death toll by 5%.ConclusionBelgium implemented a rather complete surveillance of COVID-19 mortality, on account of a rapid investment of the hospitals and LTCF. LTCF could build on past experience of previous surveys and surveillance activities. The adoption of an extended definition of 'COVID-19-related deaths' in a context of limited testing capacity has provided timely information about the severity of the epidemic.
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