During the week from 26 April to 2 May, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 continued to decrease slightly from 1,231 to 1,119 (-9%), while the number of their identified close contacts increased from 2,517 cases the previous week to 2,967 (+18%).
The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 26 April to 2 May has decreased from 54,045 to 50,968.
190 people reported a positive rapid antigen test.
As of 2 May, the number of active infections had decreased to 2,584 (compared to 2,806 on 25/04), while the number of people healed increased from 62,779 to 64,094. The average age of those diagnosed as COVID-19 positive further decreased significantly to 27.4 years.
However, the number of new deaths increased, with 9 deaths related to COVID-19, compared to 5 the previous week. The average age of the deceased is 76 years.
In the hospitals, there was a further decrease in admissions of confirmed COVID patients, with 58 hospitalisations in normal care, compared to 71 the previous week. However, the situation in intensive care continues to be critical: The number of occupied beds decreased only slightly from 36 to 34. There has also been a slight decrease in the average age of hospitalised patients (from 60 to 56 years).
The two COVID-19 Consultation Centres (CCCs), located in Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, have recorded a total of 13,545 visits since their opening, including 363 visits for the week of 26 April to 2 May, which is significantly lower than the previous week (495), despite adjustments to the opening hours.
Therefore, in view of the evolution of the number of visits and the current pandemic situation, it is planned to close the COVID-19 Consultation Centres (CCCs) as of 17 May 2021.
From this date onwards, symptomatic people, i.e. those showing signs of a COVID-19 infection, should contact their general practitioner, preferably via teleconsultation. People with serious health problems (severe coughing, shortness of breath, discomfort, chest pain, cyanosis) are asked to attend the emergency services of hospitals.
Positivity rate and incidence rate
For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) remained stable at 0.93, as well as the positivity rate on all tests performed (prescriptions, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing) with 2.28% compared to 2.20% 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 from 6.27% to 5.32%.
The incidence rate continues its downward trend with 176 cases per 100,000 residents over 7 days, compared to 194 cases per 100,000 residents for the week of 19 April. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has decreased in all age groups. The most significant decrease is recorded in the age group 75+ years (-41%), followed by the age group 60-74 years (-25%). The 75+ age group continues to have the lowest incidence rate with 58 cases per 100,000 residents, followed by the age group 60-74 years, with 77 cases per 100,000 residents. Compared to the rest of the population, the incidence rate is 2.5 times lower in people aged 60 and older. This category has been the main target of the vaccination campaign so far.
Quarantine and isolation
For the week from 26 April to 2 May, 2,734 people were in isolation (-4%) and 3,641 in quarantine (+28% compared to the previous week).
Contaminations
For the 1,119 new cases, the family circle remains the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 42.2%, followed by the education sector (4.8%), the work place (4.7%) and leisure activities (3.7%). The rate of contamination for which the source is not clearly attributable slightly increased to 39.8%.
Vaccinations: update on the situation
For the week of 26 April to 2 May, a total of 21,750 doses were administered. 17,859 people received a 1st dose and 3,891 received a 2nd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered until 4 May to 213,236 (1st and 2nd dose).
The evolution of the variants
For the week of 19 to 26 April, the population sequencing coverage was 56.7%, well above the optimal rate of 10% recommended by ECDC in order to have an optimal representative sampling.
Regarding the 605 samples carried out for calendar week 16/2021, the following distribution of variants can be observed:
- the UK variant (B.1.1.7) represents 85.3% of the cases
- the South African SA variant (B.1.351) represents 10.4% of the cases
- the Brazilian variant (P.1) represents 1.2% of de cases
During the week 16/2021, 3 new cases of the Indian variant B.1.617 were detected in Luxembourg.
Wastewater monitoring in Luxembourg as part of SARS-CoV-2
The contamination level of the 13 analysed waste water treatment plants by the LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology), during the week of 26 April to 2 May indicates a moderate prevalence of the virus in waste water at national level. The level of contamination observed this week remains stable compared to the previous weeks, with an average level of contamination similar to that of weeks 13 and 14. This result 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)