In its latest COVID-19 report, Luxembourg's Ministry of Health confirmed that the number of COVID-19 cases was up 39% last week compared to the week before.
For the week of 26 October to 1 November 2020, the number of residents testing positive for COVID-19 increased by 39% to 4,701 cases, compared to 3,388 cases the previous week. The number of contacts also increased by 26%, to 12,562. The number of PCR tests carried out was 76,614 compared to 61,109 the week before.
As of Sunday 1 November 2020, the number of active infections stood at 8,224 (compared to 4,683 as of 25 October) and the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 9,570 to 10,716. Fourteen new COVID-19-related deaths (compared to twelve the week before) were recorded, with the average age of those who died standing at 82.
The rise in the number of people testing positive for the virus was accompanied by an increase in patients in hospitals, where most patients required normal (rather than intensive) care.
The effective reproduction rate (RT eff) decreased from 1.62 to 1.19 and the positivity rate on the tests carried out was 6.14% compared to 5.54% (weekly average) the previous week. The incidence rate was 750 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days and 1,292 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over fourteen days. The rate increased again across all age groups. The 15-29 age group continued to be the most affected, followed by the 45-59 age group as well as the 75+ age group. People aged 60-74 experienced the greatest increase, whilst the incidence in young people aged 0-14 remained about half as high as that in adults. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 increased from 40.3 to 41.2 years.
Last week, 8,149 people were in quarantine (compared to 5,531 the previous week) whilst 6,251 were in isolation (compared to 3,241).
For many cases, the source of infection remained unclear. The Health Ministry stressed that, in view of the high number of new infections, it is not possible at present to identify the source of every case.
Regarding the presence of the virus in wastewater in Luxembourg, the latest CORONASTEP report by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) showed a slight decrease in the level of SARS-CoV-2 contamination in some of the country's wastewater treatment plants and an increase in others at the end of last week. Nevertheless, contamination levels observed in all treatment plants remained high, indicating a high prevalence of the virus in wastewater.
