Sewage Surveillance in Luxembourg Shows Continued SARS-CoV-2 Increase Since July 2021

The sewage surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA contamination in Luxembourg has shown a continued increasing trend since July 2021.

The CORONASTEP report from the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), in collaboration with the Water Management Authority (Administration de la gestion de l'Eau) and the Luxembourg water and wastewater operators association Aluseau, measures the SARS-CoV-2 RNA particles in samples collected from up to thirteen wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) across Luxembourg.

The number of viral genetic material are then reported in terms of number of billion copies detected per day per 100,000 inhabitants equivalent. Up to two samples per week are collected from each WWTP, except from Hesperange and Boevange with only one sample per week.

The latest report from 2 December 2021 mentioned: "The general trend over several weeks or even months is clearly upwards, even if a stabilisation of the signal occurs this week".

The graph shows the evolution of the number of daily confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases and the seven-day moving average in Luxembourg (data from the Ministry of Health) together with the number of copies of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in the sewage wastewater. It is to be noted that while the trend of the two curves looks quite similar, the CORONASTEP team cautions: "The curve of coronavirus in wastewater does not indicate the estimated number of positive cases".