New COVID-19 cases - Weekly review: 7 - 13 March 2022

The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has increased from 4,794 to 5,968 cases (+24%) for the week of 7 to 13 March 2022.

Among the 5,968 new infections, the incidence rate of positive non-vaccinated persons is 986 per 100,000 inhabitants and 922.8 per 100,000 inhabitants for those who had a complete vaccination.

Among hospital admissions, 8 out of 30 patients in normal care were not vaccinated (22 patients had a complete vaccination), while 0 out of 4 patients of intensive care were not vaccinated.

The calculated incidence rate per 100,000 hospitalised persons (5 years and older) with a complete vaccination pattern is 4.55 in normal care and 0.83 in intensive care. The calculated incidence rate per 100,000 non-vaccinated hospitalized persons (5 years and older) is 6.77 in normal care and 0.00 in intensive care.

The number of PCR tests performed during the week of 7 to 13 March has increased from 17,169 to 17,853.

83 people reported a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) for the reporting week, compared to 68 the previous week, bringing the number of positive results performed by a health-care worker to a total of 2,222. It should be noted that positive RATs are not included in the calculation of the positivity rate.

As of 13 March, the number of active infections has increased to 10,909 compared to 9,623 on 6 March, while the number of people healed increased from 177,349 to 182,024. The average age of those diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 is 35.3 years.

For the week of 7 to 13 March, 7 new deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported. The average age of the deceased is 83 years.

In the hospitals, there were 30 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care, compared to 24 the previous week. The number of occupied beds in the intensive care unit decreased from 6 to 4. The average age of hospitalised patients is 53 years.

Positivity rate and incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (R) increased, with 1.13% compared to 1.11% the previous week, while the positivity rate on all tests performed (prescriptions, contact tracing) increased from 27.92% to 33.43%.

The 7-day incidence rate increased to 940 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 755 per 100,000 inhabitants the previous week.

Re-infections as well as certified self-tests in schools were included in the calculation of incidence rates. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate has increased in all age groups.

The largest increase was recorded in the 60-74 years age group (+51%), followed by the 75+ age group (+41%), the 30-44 years age group (+29%), the 45-59 years age group (+27%), the 15-29 years age group (+26%) and the 0-14 years age group (+12%). In the week of 7 to 13 March, school-certified self-tests accounted for 24% of cases among 0-14 year olds and 9% of cases among 15-29 year olds.

The lowest incidence rate is recorded in the 60-74 age group (606 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), while the highest incidence rate is recorded in the 0-14 age group with 1,629 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Contaminations

As the number of new infections remains high, the identification of sources is currently not possible for all cases.

The family circle remains the most frequent source of transmission of COVID-19 infections (32.6%), followed by education (15.1%), travel abroad (4.5%) and work (4.1%). The percentage of undetermined sources has decreased (26.9%).

Vaccinations: update on the situation

For the week of 7 to 13 March, a total of 2,842 doses were administered. 230 people received a 1st dose, 850 a 2nd dose, 1,455 people received one complementary dose to a full vaccination, and 307 received  a second complementary dose to a full vaccination, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 15 March to 1,270,982.

470,598 people have a complete vaccination pattern, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 78.3% of the eligible population (i.e. the 5+ population).

Closure of the vaccination centres Esch-Belval and Ettelbruck

The Esch-Belval and Ettelbruck vaccination centres  will be closed from Saturday 16 April at 1pm.

All persons who have received their first dose of vaccination after 19 March in one of these 2 centres or in the pop-ups, will be able to go without an appointment to the Victor Hugo vaccination centre, to a pharmacist or to a physician to obtain their second dose.

The list of pharmacies and physicians is continuously updated and can be consulted on covidvaccination.lu.

"Pop Up" Vaccination: Lëtzebuerg léisst sech impfen

To increase vaccination coverage, the Government continues to facilitate access to vaccination by deploying temporary vaccination spots ("Pop Up" Vaccination) and mobile teams will be present in high-traffic areas (pedestrian zones, shopping malls, events organised by some municipalities).

Closure of some "pop-ups"

  • Pop-ups in shopping centres will be closed after Saturday 16 April
  • The Pop-up Central station Luxembourg will close its doors after Friday 15 April

The closure of the Pop-ups will be complemented by the reintroduction of the vaccination bus in April, which will serve, among others, shopping centre car parks, commercial zones and various events.

The list of all new vaccination spots is continuously updated and can be consulted on covidvaccination.lu.

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/publications-en/.

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 contamination level of the 13 wastewater treatment plants analysed during the tenth week of 2022 still shows a high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater at national level. The SARS-CoV-2 levels measured this week are very similar to those observed last week, confirming the stabilisation of the signal. Similar trends were observed for the different wastewater plants analysed, with the exception of the Troisvierges plant, where a significant peak in SARS-CoV-2 contamination was observed this week.

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)

Last update