In its latest COVID-19 report, Luxembourg's Ministry of Health confirmed that almost half of new infections recorded last week were linked to travellers returning to the Grand Duchy from abroad.
Of the 334 positive cases recorded between 17 and 23 August 2020, 163 (47%) were linked to travel abroad. In this context, the Ministry of Health stressed that compliance with health instructions even during holidays abroad is an essential element of the fight against the spread of coronavirus.
In addition, 58 cases (17%) are believed to have been intra-family infections, whilst ten cases (3%) were linked to celebrations with family or friends. 28 cases related to three groups of active infections identified (at work, flat-sharing, etc).
After a sharp decrease in new infections the past three weeks, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 and the number of identified contacts were on the rise again during the week of 17 to 23 August 2020. During this period, 334 new infections were recorded, as well as 2,070 contacts, compared to 249 new infections and 1,827 contacts the previous week.
On the other hand, as of 23 August 2020, the number of active infections stood at 573 (compared to 606 on 16 August), while the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 6,739 to 7,106. Hospital capacities were less strained than in the previous week and no new deaths related to COVID-19 were recorded.
The effective reproduction rate (RT eff) increased from 0.77 to 1.11 while the positivity rate on the tests carried out increased from 0.66% to 0.76% (weekly average). The seven-day incidence rate was 43.28 per 100,000 inhabitants. Moreover, 1,094 people were in quarantine (up 1% compared to the previous week) and 603 in isolation (down 22% compared to the previous week).
For the week of 17 to 23 August, the average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 was 35.5 years, which remains stable compared to previous weeks.
