New COVID-19 cases - Weekly review: 8 - 14 March

During the week from 8 to 14 March, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 1,194 to 1,249 (+5%), while the number of their identified close contacts also increased from 2,847 cases the previous week to 3,669 (+34.5%).

The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 8 to 14 March has increased from 61,564 to 63,675.

As of 14 March, the number of active infections was 2,752 (compared to 2,860 on 07.03.), while the number of people healed increased from 53,152 to 54,481. The average age of those diagnosed as COVID-19 positive decreased to 37 years.

During the week in question, there were 28 new deaths related to COVID-19, compared to 24 the previous week. The average age of the deceased is 83 years.

In the hospitals, there was a clear increase in admissions, with 95 hospitalisations in normal care and 27 hospitalisations in intensive care of confirmed COVID patients for the week of 8 to 14 March, compared to 86, respectively 21, the previous week.

The two COVID-19 Consultation Centres (CCCs), located in Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, have recorded a total of 9,539 visits since their opening, including 583 visits for the week of 8 to 14 March, which is higher than the previous week (457).

Positivity rate and incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) remained stable with 0.96% compared to 1.00% the previous week, as well as the positivity rate on all tests performed (prescriptions, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing), with 1.96% compared to 1.94% the previous week (average over the week). It should be noted that the positivity rate for tests carried out on prescription, i.e. for people with symptoms, decreased to 4.91%, compared to 5.03% the previous week.

The 7-day incidence rate is 200 per 100,000 residents. Note that for the week of 1st March, the incidence rate was 191 cases per 100,000 residents over 7 days. Compared to the previous week, the age group 0-14 years recorded the highest increase (+24%), followed by the 30-44 age group (+16%). The incidence rate dropped for those aged 75 or more (-25%) and remains stable for all other age groups. The 0-14 and 15-30 age groups now have the highest incidence rate, whereas the 60-74 age group continues to have the lowest incidence rate.

Quarantine and isolation

For the week from 8 to 14 March, 2,594 people were in isolation (-6%) and 3,725 in quarantine (+21% compared to the previous week).

Contaminations

For the 1,249 new cases, the family circle remains by far the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 44.3%, followed by the work place (6.2%), the education sector (6.0%), the help and care sector (4.5%) and leisure activities (3.9%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable decreased to 30.1%.

Vaccinations: update on the situation

For the week of 8 to 14 March, a total of 12,341 doses were administered. 10,892 people received a 1st dose and 1,449 received a 2nd dose.

The schedule of the amounts of doses to which Luxembourg is theoretically entitled according to the pro rata of 0.14% of the Luxembourg population, as provided for in the contracts already concluded by the Commission with the various manufacturers, as well as the amounts already delivered to the Grand Duchy to date and expected to be delivered by the end of March 2021, can be consulted in the attached weekly report (PDF).

To date, Luxembourg will therefore have enough vaccines to vaccinate 123,379 people by the end of April 2021. It should be noted, however, that the amount of doses is subject to adjustments from week to week, based on manufacturers' production capacities and deliveries.

The evolution of the variants

For the week of 1 to 7 March, the population sequencing coverage was 23.1%, well above the optimal rate of 10% recommended by ECDC in order to have an optimal representative sampling.

Regarding the representative sampling of 411 tests carried out for calendar week 9/2021, the following distribution of variants can be observed:

• The UK variant (B.1.1.7) represents 62.7% of the cases
• The South African SA variant (B.1.351) represents 18.5% of the cases
• One new case of the Brazilian variant (P.1) was found

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

According to the latest CORONASTEP report drawn up by the LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology), the level of contamination of the 13 treatment plants sampled during the week of 8 to 14 March still indicates a high prevalence of the virus in waste water at national level. A downward trend could be observed during the week 10/2021. This trend will have to be confirmed by the analyses performed in the coming 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)