New COVID-19 cases - Weekly review: 11 - 17 October

For the week of 11 to 17 October, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has increased from 675 to 786 cases (+16%), while the number of their identified close contacts has decreased from 3,540 to 3,114 cases (-12%).

Among the 786 new infections, the incidence rate of new positive persons who were not vaccinated is 222.19 per 100,000 inhabitants and 66.16 per 100,000 inhabitants for those who had a complete vaccination pattern.

It should be noted that, in order to better reflect the reality of new infections in relation to people vaccinated (full vaccination pattern) or not vaccinated, these data will from now on be expressed in terms of the incidence rate and not by percentage.

Among hospital admissions, 10 out of 15 patients in normal care were not vaccinated (5 had a complete vaccination pattern), while 3 out of 5 patients of intensive care were not vaccinated.

The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 11 to 17 October has increased from 15,544 to 16,480.

17 people reported a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) for the reporting week, compared to 12 the previous week, bringing the number of positive results performed by a health-care worker to a total of 358. Since the introduction of self-tests, 804 positive results have been reported (with 0 cases for the week of 11 to 17 October). It should be noted that positive RATs are not included in the calculation of the positivity rate.

As of 17 October, the number of active infections has increased to 1,396 (from 1,201 on 10 October), while the number of people healed increased from 77,157 to 77,746. The average age of those diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 has increased from 32.7 to 31.9 years.

For the week of 11 to 17 October, 2 new deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported.The average age of the deceased is 95 years.

In hospitals, the situation remains stable, with 15 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care and 4 occupied beds in the intensive care unit (compared to 5 the previous week). The average age of inpatients increased from 57 to 67 years.

Positivity rate and incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) increased slightly to 1.22 (compared to 1.00 the previous week). The positivity rate on all tests performed (prescription, contact tracing) also increased from 4.34% to 4.77%. A similar trend can be observed for the positivity rate for tests carried out on prescription, i.e. for people with symptoms.

The 7-day incidence rate increased to 124 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 106 per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week.

Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has increased in all age groups, except in the 15-29 age group (-3%). The largest increase was recorded in the 0-14 age group (+36%), followed by the 75+ age group (+29%).

The highest incidence rate is recorded in the 0-14 age group with 226 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The lowest incidence rates are recorded in the 60-74 and 75+ age groups.

Quarantine and isolation

During the week of 11 to 17 October, 1,542 people were in isolation (+12%) and 3,391 in quarantine (-2%).

Contaminations

For the 786 new cases, the family circle remains the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 34.1%, followed by education (19%), mainly fundamental education (10.2%), and travel abroad (6.9%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable decreased to 28.9%.

Scenario 4 at the Brill fundamental school in Dudelange

On 10 and 11 October 2021, 3 positive cases, including a teacher, were diagnosed in a cycle 1 school class. The class was quarantined until 15 October. Testing on 15 October revealed 7 more cases.

The measures implemented ensured that the virus did not spread to other classes in the school.

Vaccinations: update on the situation

For the week of 11 to 17 October, a total of 7,042 doses were administered. 2,996 people received a 1st dose, 2,261 a 2nd dose and 1,785 a 3rd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 19 October to 800,633. 413,233 people have a complete vaccination pattern, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 74% of the eligible population (i.e. the 12+ population).

Upcoming events of the "Impf-Bus on tour"

The vaccination bus will be present at the following events:

• 20/10/21 11am – 3pm, Cloche d'Or – Boulevard de Kockelscheuer
• 21/10/21 11am – 3pm, Zone industrielle Grevenmacher (Potaschbierg)
• 22/10/21 11am – 4pm, Shopping Center La Belle Etoile
• 25/10/21 Zone d'activité économique Kirchberg (European Parliament site - Adenauer building)
• 26/10/21 11am – 3pm, Zone industrielle Rodange (PED)

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 11 to 17 October still shows a high national prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 flux values. The levels of viral RNA detected were quite similar to those observed during the previous week, but with a slight upward trend. At the regional level, the general trend is rather towards stabilisation of the SARS-CoV-2 signal for most of the treatment plants analysed.

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 Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, the National Health Laboratory (LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)