Luxembourg's Ministry of Health, together with the National Health Laboratory (Laboratoire National de Santé - LNS) and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), have issued a COVID-19 retrospective for the period from 19 to 25 April 2021.

For the week in question, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 continued to decrease slightly from 1,261 to 1,231 (down 2.4%). The number of their identified close contacts also decreased from 2,943 to 2,517 contacts (down 14.5%) over one week. The number of PCR tests carried out last week also decreased considerably from 60,364 to 54,044.

183 individuals tested positive following a rapid antigen test.

As of Sunday 25 April 2021, the number of active infections remained relatively stable at 2,622 (compared to 2,692 as of 18 April) and the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 61,666 to 62,962. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 fell further to 35.2 years.

The number of weekly deaths also continued to decline, from eight to five. The average age of those who died was 74.

In hospitals, there has been a decrease in admissions of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care, which fell from 84 to 71 over one week. The situation in intensive care continues to be tense: the number of occupied beds increased from 33 to 36. The average age of hospitalised patients increased slightly, from 56 to 60.

The two COVID-19 consultation centres (CCC), located in Luxembourg-Kirchberg and Esch-sur-Alzette, have recorded a total of 13,182 visits to date, including 495 visits last week (almost identical to the previous week: 497). 

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) remained stable at 0.90, while the positivity rate on all tests carried out increased slightly, from 2.09% to 2.28% (average over the week). The positivity rate on tests performed through a doctor's prescription (i.e. people with symptoms) increased from 5.88% to 6.27%.

The incidence rate decreased from 201 to 194 with cases per 100,000 inhabitants over seven days. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate decreased across all age groups except among 0-15 (up 8%) and 30-44 year-olds (up 6%). The 75+ age group recorded the largest decrease (down 21%) over one week, followed by the  60-74 age group (down 14%). Over-75s had the lowest incidence rate (99 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), followed by the 60-74 age group (103 cases per 100,000 inhabitants). Compared to the rest of the population, incidence rates were two times lower in people over the age of 60 who have been the main target of the vaccination campaign so far.

For the week of 19 to 25 April, 2,841 people were in isolation (down 3%) and 2,835 were in quarantine (down 5%).

The family circle remained the most frequent context of transmission of COVID-19 infections (41.6%), followed by the workplace (5.4%), education (particularly in creches; 3.3%), travel abroad (3.2%) and leisure (3.1%). The source of infection was not clearly attributable increased from 38.8% to 39.4% of cases.

Vaccinations: update

For the week of 19 to 25 April, a total of 14,714 vaccine doses were administered in Luxembourg: 12,480 people received their first dose whilst 2,234 people received their second dose. This brings the total number of vaccinations administered as of 27 April to 181,908.

Evolution of variants

For the week of 12 to 18 April 2021, population sequencing coverage was 51.6%, thus significantly higher than the optimal rate of 10% recommended by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) for a representative sample

Concerning the 687 samples carried out for week 15/2021, the following distribution can be observed:

  • the British (UK) variant (B.1.1.7) represented 85.8% of cases;
  • the South African (SA) variant (B.1.351) represented 8.8% of cases;
  • five new cases of the Brazilian variant (P.1);
  • three cases of the so-called "Indian variant" (B.1.617). All detected cases of this variant were linked to travel.

Wastewater monitoring

The latest CORONASTEP report drawn up by LIST indicated a high prevalence of the virus in wastewater nationwide. An upward trend was observed throughout the week of 19 to 25 April 2021, although levels remained similar to those of the previous two weeks. Analyses in the coming weeks should confirm this result.