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), has issued a COVID-19 retrospective for the week of 14 to 20 February 2022.

During this period, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 decreased from 5,871 to 3,648 cases (down 38%).

Among the 3,648 new infections, the incidence rate is 661 per 100,000 unvaccinated people and 540 per 100,000 people with a full vaccination schedule.

The number of PCR tests carried out decreased from 24,343 the week before to 15,271 last week.

50 people reported a positive rapid antigenic test for the reference week (down from 65 for the week before), bringing the total number of positive results from such tests performed by a healthcare professional to a total of 2,024. Note that positive rapid antigen tests are not taken into account in calculating the positivity rate.

As of 20 February 2022, the number of active infections stood at 9,738 (down from 17,135 as of 13 February 2022) and the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 156,761 to 167,784. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 is 35.3 years old.

Seven new COVID-19-related deaths were reported last week. The average age of those who died is 85 years old.

In hospitals, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care decreased from 64 to 42 over one week. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care decreased from ten to nine. The average age of hospitalised patients was 56.

Among the 42 hospitalised patients, eighteen in normal care were not vaccinated against 24 patients who had a complete vaccination schedule, while six out of nine patients in intensive care were not vaccinated.

Positivity rate & incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) was up 0.84 compared to 0.54 the previous week, while the positivity rate on all the tests carried out (prescriptions, contact tracing) decreased from 24.12% to 23.89.

The incidence rate decreased to 575 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 7 days, compared to 924 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for the previous week.

Reinfections as well as certified self-tests in schools were included in the calculation of incidence rates. Compared to the previous week, the incidence rate decreased in all age groups. The lowest incidence rate is recorded among 60-74 year olds (353 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) while the highest incidence rate is recorded among 30-44 year olds (892 cases per 100,000 inhabitants).

Quarantines & isolations

During the week, 15,240 people were in isolation (down 41%) and 559 in quarantine (down 82%).

Transmission

With the increase in the number of cases, it is difficult to determine all probable source of contamination of the week.

The family circle (37.4%) remains the most frequent source followed by education (5.5%), travel abroad (4.9%), hobbies (4.7%) and work (3.8%). The rate of contaminations for which the source is not clearly attributable increased to 39.2%.

Vaccinations update

For the week of 14 to 20 February 2022, a total of 6,594 doses were administered. 931 people received a 1st dose, 1,585 a second and 3,423 people received an additional dose compared to a full schedule, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 21 February to 1,260,842.

467,347 people have a complete vaccination schedule, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 77.7% compared to the vaccinable population (therefore the 5 years or older population).