In its latest COVID-19 report, Luxembourg's Ministry of Health confirmed that the number of COVID-19 cases was down 12.2% last week compared to the week before.
For the week of 2 to 8 November 2020, the number of residents testing positive for COVID-19 decreased slightly from 4,700 to 4,127 over one week. The number of identified contacts remained stable at 12,582 (compared to 12,562 the previous week). The number of PCR tests carried out was 67,839 compared to 76,997 the week before.
As of Sunday 8 November 2020, the number of active infections stood at 9,118 (up 9.8% from 8,223 on 1 November) and the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 10,717 to 13,913. 35 new COVID-19-related deaths (compared to fourteen the week before) were recorded, with the average age of those who died standing at 84.
The high number of people testing positive for the virus was accompanied by an increase in patients in hospitals, especially in normal care but also in intensive care. Compared to the previous week, fewer patients (175 compared to 206) were admitted to hospital and more patients (122 compared to 96) were discharged.
The effective reproduction rate (RT eff) dropped further from 1.20 to 0.82 and the positivity rate on the tests carried out was 6.08% compared to 6.10% (weekly average) the previous week. The incidence rate was 659 (down from 750) cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days and 1,413 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over fourteen days. The rate decreased across all age groups except among 0-14 year olds, where it continued to increase but remained lower than among adults. The 45-59 age group was the most affected, followed by the 75+ and 15-29 age groups. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 remained stable at 41.4 years (compared to 41.2).
Last week, 8,695 people were in isolation (up 39% from the previous week) whilst 8,836 were in quarantine (down 18%).
For many cases, the source of infection remained unclear. The Health Ministry recalled that, in view of the high number of new infections, it is not possible at present to identify the source of every case.
During the week of 2 to November, the wastewater sampling effort was considerably increased in order to have a clearer picture of the development of the situation: three separate sampling days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) were analysed, with eight, eleven and nine samples of wastewater respectively. Most of the sewage treatment plants were analysed two or three times.
The latest CORONASTEP report by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) showed that the level of SARS-CoV-2 contamination was very comparable to those observed the previous week. Contamination levels remained very high in the thirteen analysed wastewater treatment plants, indicating a high prevalence of the virus in wastewater. Nevertheless, all of the data collected last week seemed to indicate a slight downtrend - to be confirmed in the coming days or weeks.
