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 28 February to 6 March 2022.
During this period, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 increased from to 4,670 to 4,794 cases (up 2%).
Among the 4,794 new infections, the incidence rate is 866 per 100,000 unvaccinated people and 712.8 per 100,000 people with a full vaccination schedule.
The number of PCR tests carried out decreased from 17,554 the week before to 17,166 last week.
68 people reported a positive rapid antigenic test for the reference week (up from 47 for the week before), bringing the total number of positive results from such tests performed by a healthcare professional to a total of 2,139. Note that positive rapid antigen tests are not taken into account in calculating the positivity rate.
As of 6 March 2022, the number of active infections stood at 9,611 (up from 8,468 as of 27 February 2022) and the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 173,707 to 177,361. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 is 34.2 years old.
Seven new COVID-19-related deaths were reported last week. The average age of those who died is 88 years old.
In hospitals, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care increased from 22 to 24 over one week. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care decreased from seven to six. The average age of hospitalised patients was 57.
Among the 24 hospitalised patients, ten in normal care were not vaccinated against fourteen patients who had a complete vaccination schedule, while five out of six patients in intensive care were not vaccinated.
Positivity rate & incidence rate
For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) was up 1.11 compared to 1.02 the previous week, while the positivity rate on all the tests carried out (prescriptions, contact tracing) increased from 26.60% to 27.93%.
The incidence rate increased to 755 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 7 days, compared to 736 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 increased in all age groups. The lowest incidence rate is recorded among 60-74 year olds (400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) while the highest incidence rate is recorded among 0-14 year olds (1,452 cases per 100,000 inhabitants).
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 (31.3%) remains the most frequent source followed by education (12.3%), travel abroad (8.2%), leisure (6.2%) and work (3.6%). The rate of contaminations for which the source is not clearly attributable decreased to 33.9%.
Vaccinations update
For the week of 28 February to 6 March 2022, a total of 3,838 doses were administered. 451 people received a 1st dose, 1,048 a second, 1,963 people received a first additional dose and 376 people received a second additional dose compared to a full schedule, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 8 March 2022 to 1,268,435.
479,749 people have a complete vaccination schedule, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 78.2% compared to the vaccinable population (therefore the 5 years or older population).
