In its latest COVID-19 report, Luxembourg's Ministry of Health confirmed that the number of COVID-19 cases was down 11% last week compared to the week before.
For the week of 28 December 2020 to 3 January 2021, the number of residents testing positive for COVID-19 decreased from 1,267 to 1,135 people (down 11%) over one week. The number of identified contacts also decreased, from 3,207 to 2,106 cases (down 34%), during this period. That being said, the number of PCR tests carried out was lower than the previous week, with 33,948 tests compared to 49,875.
As of Sunday 3 January 2021, the number of active infections stood at 3,114 (compared to 4,995 as of 27 December 2020) and the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 40,370 to 43,364. Fewer deaths were recorded last week (22 compared to 36 the week before), with the average age of those who died standing at 85.
For the week of 28 December to 3 January, hospitals treated 103 COVID-19 patients in normal care (down from 135 the previous week) and 32 in intensive care (down from 37). This downward trend allowed hospitals to drop back down from phase 4 to phase 3.
Nevertheless, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) increased from 0.40% to 0.93% and the positivity rate on all tests carried out was 3.34% compared to 2.54% (weekly average) the previous week; the positivity rate on tests performed through a doctor's prescription (i.e. people with symptoms) was 6.86%. The incidence rate was 181 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (down from 202) over seven days. The trend appears to be reversing among 15-29 year olds, whose age group had the highest weekly incidence rate (242 cases per 100,000 people) last week. The 60-74 age group had the lowest incidence rate, with 117 cases per 100,000 people. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 dropped from 41.1 to 38.4 years.
For the week of 28 December to 3 January, 3,466 people were in isolation (down 25% over one week) and 2,440 were in quarantine (down 37%).
Due to the decrease in the number of reported cases, it was again possible to carry out an analysis of the sources of infection over the entire week. The family circle remained by far the most frequent context of transmission, accounting for 51.4% of new COVID-19 infections. The source of infection was not clearly attributable in 28%.
According to the Laboratoire National de Santé (LNS), three cases of the new British variant of COVID-19 have been detected in Luxembourg to date.
All passengers on all flights from the United Kingdom have been systematically tested for the virus since 24 December 2020. All passengers, except one person, had performed a test before their departure (mostly rapid antigen tests). The 27 passengers who had performed their test more than 48 hours before their departure (antigen and PCR) were tested a second time. All the tests were negative.
The country's two COVID-19 consultation centres (CCC), in Luxembourg-Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, recorded a total of 5,663 visits, including 411 visits for the week of 28 December to 3 January.
The latest CORONASTEP report drawn up by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) indicated that, for the week in question, the level of SARS-CoV-2 contamination of wastewater remained high, although a downward trend had been observed for the previous weeks across almost all the treatment plants studied individually.
