Luxembourg's Ministry of Health, together with the National Health Laboratory (LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), have issued a COVID-19 retrospective for the period from 22 to 28 March 2021.
For the week in question, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 1,564 to 1,684 (+7.7%), as well as the number of their identified close contacts which increased from 3,846 to 4,129 contacts (+7.3%).
Of 109 people who tested positive following a rapid antigen test, 50 also had a positive result following a PCR test.
The number of PCR tests performed during the week increased from 63,501 to 67,051.
As of 28 March 2021, the number of active infections stood at 3,479 (compared to 3,069 on 21 March 2021) and the number of people cured rose from 55,575 to 56,853. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 has increased slightly to 37.5 years.
The number of new deaths has fallen sharply, with 20 deaths related to COVID-19, compared to 28 the previous week. The average age of those who died is 79 years old.
In hospitals, there has been a slight increase in admissions of COVID-19 patients confirmed in normal care, with 107 hospitalisations compared to 99 the previous week. The number of intensive care hospitalisations has not changed compared to the previous week (i.e. 21 beds occupied).
The two COVID-19 consultation centres (CCC), located in Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, have recorded a total of 10,922 visits since their opening, including 661 visits for the week of 22 to 28 March 2021, less than the previous week (722).
Note: the COVID-19 Consultation Centres will be open between 09:00 and 15:00 on Easter Monday, but will remain closed on Easter Sunday.
Positivity rate and incidence rate
For this specific period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) slightly decreased to 1.11 compared to 1.13 the previous week, while the positivity rate on all the tests carried out (prescriptions, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing), increased slightly to 2.51% against 2.46% (average over the week). The positivity rate for tests performed on prescription, therefore for people with symptoms, has decreased from 5.89% to 5.67%.
The incidence rate is 269 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 7 days. For the week of 15 March 2021, the incidence rate was 250 cases per 100,000 population over 7 days. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate increased in the age groups of 15-29 years (+14%), 45-49 years (+11%) and 60-74 years (+18%). In the other age groups, the incidence rate stabilised between 270 and 280 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The 60-74 age group continues to have the lowest incidence rate with 176 cases per 100,000 inhabitants while the 15-29 age group has the highest incidence rate with 324 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Quarantines and isolations
For the week of 22 to 28 March 2021, a total of 3,183 people were in isolation (+16%) and 5,456 in quarantine (+16% compared to the previous week).
Contamination
For the 1,684 new cases, the family circle remains the most frequent context of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 41.1%, followed by education (8.3%) - especially secondary education - work (5.8%) and leisure (3.3%). The rate of contaminations for which the source is not clearly attributable has increased to 34.6%.
Note: a large cluster was detected following a private party by secondary school students.
Vaccinations: update
For the week of 22-28 March 2021, a total of 12,312 doses were administered. 9,480 people received a 1st dose and 2,832 a 2nd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered to date to 92,574 (1st and 2nd dose).
According to the information available to date, Luxembourg will have a sufficient number of vaccines to vaccinate 129,030 people until the end of April 2021. However, allocations are likely to be adjusted from week to week according to production capacities in manufacturing and deliveries.
The evolution of variants
For the week of 15-21 March 2021, the sequencing coverage of the population was 34.4%, thus significantly higher than the optimal rate of 10% recommended by ECDC for a representative sample.
Concerning the representative sampling of 1,570 samples carried out for week 11/2021, the following distribution can be observed:
• the British (UK) variant (B.1.1.7) represents 68.1% of cases;
• the South African (SA) variant (B.1.351) represents 23% of cases.
COVID-19 Cases Increase 7% Last Week; Isolation/Quarantine Numbers Up 16%
Luxembourg's Ministry of Health, together with the National Health Laboratory (LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), have issued a COVID-19 retrospective for the period from 22 to 28 March 2021.
For the week in question, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 1,564 to 1,684 (+7.7%), as well as the number of their identified close contacts which increased from 3,846 to 4,129 contacts (+7.3%).
Of 109 people who tested positive following a rapid antigen test, 50 also had a positive result following a PCR test.
The number of PCR tests performed during the week increased from 63,501 to 67,051.
As of 28 March 2021, the number of active infections stood at 3,479 (compared to 3,069 on 21 March 2021) and the number of people cured rose from 55,575 to 56,853. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 has increased slightly to 37.5 years.
The number of new deaths has fallen sharply, with 20 deaths related to COVID-19, compared to 28 the previous week. The average age of those who died is 79 years old.
In hospitals, there has been a slight increase in admissions of COVID-19 patients confirmed in normal care, with 107 hospitalisations compared to 99 the previous week. The number of intensive care hospitalisations has not changed compared to the previous week (i.e. 21 beds occupied).
The two COVID-19 consultation centres (CCC), located in Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, have recorded a total of 10,922 visits since their opening, including 661 visits for the week of 22 to 28 March 2021, less than the previous week (722).
Note: the COVID-19 Consultation Centres will be open between 09:00 and 15:00 on Easter Monday, but will remain closed on Easter Sunday.
Positivity rate and incidence rate
For this specific period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) slightly decreased to 1.11 compared to 1.13 the previous week, while the positivity rate on all the tests carried out (prescriptions, Large Scale Testing, contact tracing), increased slightly to 2.51% against 2.46% (average over the week). The positivity rate for tests performed on prescription, therefore for people with symptoms, has decreased from 5.89% to 5.67%.
The incidence rate is 269 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 7 days. For the week of 15 March 2021, the incidence rate was 250 cases per 100,000 population over 7 days. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate increased in the age groups of 15-29 years (+14%), 45-49 years (+11%) and 60-74 years (+18%). In the other age groups, the incidence rate stabilised between 270 and 280 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The 60-74 age group continues to have the lowest incidence rate with 176 cases per 100,000 inhabitants while the 15-29 age group has the highest incidence rate with 324 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Quarantines and isolations
For the week of 22 to 28 March 2021, a total of 3,183 people were in isolation (+16%) and 5,456 in quarantine (+16% compared to the previous week).
Contamination
For the 1,684 new cases, the family circle remains the most frequent context of transmission of COVID-19 infections with 41.1%, followed by education (8.3%) - especially secondary education - work (5.8%) and leisure (3.3%). The rate of contaminations for which the source is not clearly attributable has increased to 34.6%.
Note: a large cluster was detected following a private party by secondary school students.
Vaccinations: update
For the week of 22-28 March 2021, a total of 12,312 doses were administered. 9,480 people received a 1st dose and 2,832 a 2nd dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered to date to 92,574 (1st and 2nd dose).
According to the information available to date, Luxembourg will have a sufficient number of vaccines to vaccinate 129,030 people until the end of April 2021. However, allocations are likely to be adjusted from week to week according to production capacities in manufacturing and deliveries.
The evolution of variants
For the week of 15-21 March 2021, the sequencing coverage of the population was 34.4%, thus significantly higher than the optimal rate of 10% recommended by ECDC for a representative sample.
Concerning the representative sampling of 1,570 samples carried out for week 11/2021, the following distribution can be observed:
• the British (UK) variant (B.1.1.7) represents 68.1% of cases;
• the South African (SA) variant (B.1.351) represents 23% of cases.
Wastewater monitoring in Luxembourg within the framework of SARS-CoV-2
According to the latest CORONASTEP report drawn up by LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology), the level of contamination of the 13 wastewater treatment plants sampled during the week of 22 to 28 March 2021 indicates a still high prevalence of the virus in wastewater at the national level, but the slight upward trend observed at the beginning of the week of 22 March does not seem to have been confirmed during the second sampling. Analyses in the coming weeks should confirm this result.
According to the latest CORONASTEP report drawn up by LIST (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology), the level of contamination of the 13 wastewater treatment plants sampled during the week of 22 to 28 March 2021 indicates a still high prevalence of the virus in wastewater at the national level, but the slight upward trend observed at the beginning of the week of 22 March does not seem to have been confirmed during the second sampling. Analyses in the coming weeks should confirm this result.
