Belgium virus death toll passes 5,000

The novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people in Belgium, officials said Friday, confirming its high per-capita mortality ratio compared to most other European countries.

A further 313 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours have pushed the overall toll to 5,163, health authorities said in a daily news conference.

Half of the fatalities were reported from old-age care homes, and the other half from hospitals in the country of 11.5 million inhabitants.