The weekly retrospective gives you a broader overview of respiratory viruses in general: including COVID-19 and influenza.
COVID-19
During the week of 30 January to 5 February 2023, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 increased to 835 cases, compared to 630 cases the previous week (+ 32.6%).
Among all those who tested positive, 50.7% were re-infected, compared to 52.5% the previous week.
There were 2 further deaths in connection with COVID-19 in the past week.
The average age of the deceased is 64 years.
In the hospitals, there were 5 new admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care, compared to 4 the previous week. In intensive care, the number of occupied beds is 1. The average age of hospitalised patients is 65 years.
Vaccinations: update on the situation
For the week of 30 January to 5 February 2023, a total of 268 doses were administered. 5 people received a 1st dose, 5 a 2nd dose, 33 people received one complementary dose to a full vaccination, 196 received a second complementary dose to a full vaccination and 29 received a third complementary dose to a full vaccination and 0 a fourth complementary dose to a full vaccination, raising the total number of vaccines administered as of 6 February 2023 to 1.293.051.
487.905 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 until 17 February 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
Closure of the Victor Hugo vaccination centre and the vaccination pop-up in Esch-Belval
The Victor Hugo vaccination centre will close at 7pm on Friday 10 February 2023.
The vaccination pop-up located in the Belval Plaza shopping centre on the 1st floor will close on 17 February from 4pm
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 variant dominates, representing 40.3% in week 4 (53.5% in week 3). The XBB.1.5 variant represents 18.4% in week 4 (7.6% in week 3).
Wastewater monitoring in Luxembourg as part of SARS-CoV-2
The CORONASTEP report is published every 15 days.
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 4th and 5th week of 2023 still shows a high prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater at national level. In general, the current trend is towards a stabilisation of the observed SARS-COV-2 genome flows, with contamination levels comparable to those of the first weeks of 2023, although a slight increase was detected locally during week 4.
All CORONASTEP reports are available on the LIST website: https://www.list.lu/en/covid-19/coronastep/.
Influenza
For the week of 30 January to 5 February 2023, the number of influenza cases reported by laboratories increased to 207 cases from 192 cases in the previous week, an increase of 7.8% compared to the previous week.
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)