The weekly retrospective gives you a broader overview of respiratory viruses in general: including COVID-19 and influenza.
COVID-19
During the week of 26 December 2022 to 1 January 2023, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 decreased to 777 cases, compared to 1,656 cases the previous week.
In addition, 499 people were re-infected, representing 39.1% of all those who tested positive, compared to 1,073 (39.3%) the previous week.
6 further deaths in connection with COVID-19 are to be deplored.
The average age of the deceased is 77 years.
In the hospitals, there were 30 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care, compared to 38 the previous week. In intensive care, the number of occupied beds is 2. The average age of hospitalised patients is 66 years.
Vaccinations: update on the situation
For the week of 26 December 2022 to 1 January 2023, a total of 75 doses were administered. 1 person received a 1st dose, 1 a 2nd dose, 1 person received one complementary dose to a full vaccination, 67 received a second complementary dose to a full vaccination and 5 received a third complementary dose to a full vaccination and 0 a fourth complementary dose to a full vaccination, the total number of vaccines administered as of 2 January 2023 to 1,292,719.
474,899 people have a complete vaccination pattern, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 79% of the eligible population (i.e. the 5+ population).
Vaccination pop-up in Esch-Belval
In order to facilitate the possibility of getting vaccinated, a vaccination pop-up is open on Fridays 6, 13 and 20 of January 2023 from 10 am to 4 pm in Esch-Belval in the Belval Plaza shopping centre on the 1st floor.
The list of all vaccination possibilities can be consulted on the following website: www.covidvaccination.lu
The evolution of the variants
Variant sequencing data are published in the REVILUX report on the website of the National Health Laboratory (Laboratoire national de Santé, LNS) https://lns.lu/publications/
Currently the Omicron BQ.1 variants dominate, representing 68.7% in week 51.
Wastewater monitoring in Luxembourg as part of SARS-CoV-2
Due to the Christmas and New Year period, the next CORONA STEP report is expected on Tuesday 10 January 2023 and will contain data for weeks 52 and 1.
All CORONASTEP reports are available on the LIST website:
https://www.list.lu/en/covid-19/coronastep/
Influenza
For the week of 26 December 2022 to 1 January 2023, the number of influenza cases reported by laboratories decreased to 897 cases from 2,552 cases in the previous week, a decrease of 65% compared to the previous week. Part of this decrease is probably due to an indirect effect of the Christmas holidays and we will have to wait for the data of the following weeks to confirm whether the peak of the epidemic has already been reached.
The microbiology department of the LNS, in collaboration with the Health Directorate and a network of sentinel general practitioners and paediatricians throughout the country, carries out annual influenza sentinel surveillance:
Data on the influenza sentinel are published in the REVILUX report on the National Health Laboratory website LNS https://lns.lu/publications/
Press release by the Ministry of Health, the Laboratoire national de santé (LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST)