COVID-19 cases - Weekly review: 6 - 12 September

For the week of 6 to 12 September, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has decreased from 573 to 553 (-4%), while the number of their identified close contacts has increased from 1,112 to 1,477 cases (+33%).

Among the 553 new infections, 375 people were not vaccinated (67.8%) and 178 people had a complete vaccination pattern (32.2%).

Among hospital admissions, 85.8% of normal care patients and 100% of intensive care patients were not vaccinated.

The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 6 to 12 September increased slightly, with 29,633 tests compared to 29,057 the week before.

19 people reported a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) for the reporting week, compared to 3 the previous week, bringing the number of positive results performed by a health-care worker to a total of 306. Since the introduction of self-tests, 804 positive results have been reported (with 0 cases for the week of 6 to 12 September). It should be noted that positive RATs are not included in the calculation of the positivity rate.

As of 12 September, the number of active infections has increased to 1,067 (from 1,052 on 5 September), while the number of people healed increased from 74,359 to 74,897. The average age of those diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 has increased from 31.7 to 32.1 years.

For the week of 6 to 12 September, 2 new deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported.

In the hospitals, there were 29 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care, compared to 22 the previous week. The number of occupied beds in the intensive care unit increased from 9 to 10. The average age of inpatients dropped from 60 to 47 years.

Positivity rate and incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) decreased to 1.00 (compared to 1.04 the previous week). The positivity rate on all tests performed (prescription, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing) also decreased from 1.97% to 1.87%. The positivity rate for tests carried out on prescription, i.e. for people with symptoms, decreased from 6.18% to 5.75%.

The 7-day incidence rate decreased to 87 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 90 per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week.

Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has decreased in all age groups, except in the 60-74 age group (+27%). The largest decrease was recorded in the 45-59 age group (-20%).

The 0-14 age group has the highest incidence rate with 121 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The lowest incidence rate is recorded in the age groups 75+ and 60-74 years.

Quarantine and isolation

During the week of 6 to 12 September, 1.289 people were in isolation (+4%) and 926 in quarantine (+13%).

Contaminations

For the 553 new cases, the family circle remains the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 30.6%, followed by travel abroad (20.1%), leisure activities (5.2%) and education (4.0%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable increased to 33.5%.

Vaccinations: update on the situation

For the week of 6 to 12 September, a total of 6,070 doses were administered. 3,415 people received a 1st dose, 2,598 a 2nd dose and 57 a 3rd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 14 September to 775,270. 398,431 people have a complete vaccination pattern, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 72% in relation to the vaccinable population (i.e. the 12+ population), and 63.6% in relation to the general population.

Upcoming events of the "Impf-Bus on tour"

The vaccination bus will be present at the following events:

• Friday, 17 September from 8am to 3pm at the Esch/Belval Uni.lu Campus
• Saturday, 18 September from 11am to 3pm at the "Familljendag" - Esch-sur-Alzette
• Saturday, 18 September from 5pm to 9:30pm at the "Nuit des lampions" - Wiltz
• Sunday, 19 September from 10am to 6pm at the "Mëttelalterfest Tempus Mediaevale" - Koerich
• Sunday, 19 September from 10am to 3pm at the "BIKE4ALL" - Mertzig

The next stops of the "Impf-Bus on tour" will also be announced on www.covidvaccination.lu

Please note that the vaccination can be done without appointment (identity card and CNS card required). People who come for their 2nd dose must also bring their vaccination certificate for the 1st dose.

The evolution of the variants

Variant sequencing data are published every Friday on the website of the National Health Laboratory (Laboratoire national de Santé, LNS) https://lns.lu/en/departement/department-of-microbiology/revilux/.

Wastewater monitoring in Luxembourg as part of SARS-CoV-2 

The contamination level of the 13 analysed wastewater treatment plants sampled by the LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology) during the week of 6 to 12 September shows a high national prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 flux values. A slight increase in the presence of SARS-CoV-2 was observed at the end of the week, but with values similar to those recorded over the past few weeks.

All CORONASTEP reports are available on the LIST website: https://www.list.lu/en/covid-19/coronastep/.

Press release by the Ministry of Health, the Laboratoire national de santé (LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)