Mass COVID-19 testing underway at stricken Belgian care homes

An employee at an elderly residence checks a woman for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as part of a series of tests performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

Belgium has begun testing more than 210,000 residents and staff at nursing homes, which now account for about half of the coronavirus-related deaths in the country.

Belgium is one of only a few countries in Europe that includes all non-hospitalised people who displayed symptoms of the disease in its daily tally of COVID-19 deaths, even if they had not been confirmed as having had it.

That may help to explain why Belgium, a small country of about 11.5 million people that has been in lockdown since mid-March, now has the fifth highest coronavirus death toll in Europe, more than larger countries such as Germany and the Netherlands.

An employee at an elderly residence checks a man for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as tests are performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

On Thursday, Belgian medical authorities said the coronavirus death toll had risen to 4,857 people, of which 49% had been in care homes. Of these, only 6.5% were confirmed as having COVID-19. The vast majority were merely suspected cases.

The mass testing at care homes is expected to take around three weeks.

An employee at an elderly residence checks a woman for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as tests are performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

(Reporting by Yves Herman, writing by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Employees are seen at an elderly residence as people are checked for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as part of a series of tests performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

An employee at an elderly residence checks a person for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as tests are performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

An employee at an elderly residence checks a person for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as tests are performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

An employee wears a face mask at an elderly residence as people are checked for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as part of a series of tests performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

An employee holds a sample at an elderly residence as people are checked for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as part of a series of tests performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

An employee wears a face mask at an elderly residence as people are checked for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as part of a series of tests performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

An employee holds a sample at an elderly residence as people are checked for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as part of a series of tests performed among seniors in the country, in Brussels, Belgium, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman