During a press conference on Tuesday, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour, Employment and Social and Solidarity Economy Dan Kersch presented the strategy for distributing rapid antigen tests to businesses, in the presence of the Director of the Union des entreprises luxembourgeoises (UEL), Jean-Paul Olinger, the President of the OGBL, Nora Back, and the President of the LCGB, Patrick Dury,
From 17 May 2021, 5.7 million tests will be distributed to businesses in Luxembourg. 76,000 vouchers inviting those concerned to collect the tests have already been sent out.
Four distribution centres have been set up: in Soleuvre, near the Festikuss cultural centre; in Bertrange, near the ArcA cultural centre; in the ZANO industrial zone in Fridhaff; and in Grevenmacher, near the Op Flohr stadium. The distribution centres will be open Monday to Friday between 07:30 and 18:00 and on Saturday from 08:00 to 12:00. They will remain closed on Pentecost Monday.
In order to take pressure of the regional distribution centres, these tests will be delivered directly to companies with more than 500 employees.
The centres will be managed by officials selected from the Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy, supported by 120 jobseekers hired under a compensated temporary occupation (Occupation temporaire indemnisée - OTI) contract.
In parallel to this campaign, the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce will distribute rapid antigen tests to businesses in the hospitality sector. These tests are intended exclusively for clients.
Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister recalled the procedures to be followed in the case of a positive rapid antigen test:
- Immediately self-isolate
- Declare your result on covidtracing.public.lu
- Notify individual contacts
- Have your result confirmed by a PCR test
The representatives of the UEL, OGBL and LCGB unions welcomed this government initiative. They stressed the importance of using rapid antigen tests on a voluntary basis in businesses. The unions concluded that the regular use of such tests was an important element in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic while waiting for the vaccination campaign to progress.
Various hotlines for businesses have also been set up. These include the hotline of the Ministry of Health (tel.: 247-65533), the Business Helpline of the House of Entrepreneurship (tel.: 423939-700; email: covid19@houseofentrepreneurship.lu; website: www.cc.lu/covid19) and the Boosthandwierk hotline (tel..: 426767-550; email: boosthandwierk@cdm.lu; website: yde.lu).
