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 March 2022.

During this period, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 5,968 to 7,779 cases (up 30%).

Among the 7,779 new infections, the incidence rate is 1,119.6 per 100,000 unvaccinated people and 1,268.3 per 100,000 people with a full vaccination schedule.

The number of PCR tests carried out increased from 17,857 the week before to 20,228 last week.

75 people reported a positive rapid antigenic test for the reference week (down from 83 for the week before), bringing the total number of positive results from such tests performed by a healthcare professional to a total of 2,297. Note that positive rapid antigen tests are not taken into account in calculating the positivity rate.

As of 20 March 2022, the number of active infections stood at 13,929 (up from 10,919 as of 13 March 2022) and the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 182,014 to 186,786. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 is 36.7 years old.

Nine 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 30 to 36 over one week. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care decreased from four to three. The average age of hospitalised patients was 62.

Among the 36 hospitalised patients, sixteen in normal care were not vaccinated against 20 patients who had a complete vaccination schedule, while one in three patients in intensive care were not vaccinated.

Positivity rate & incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) was 1.12, same as the week before, while the positivity rate on all the tests carried out (prescriptions, contact tracing) increased from 33.42% to 38.46%.

The incidence rate increased to 1,226 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 7 days, compared to 940 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 75 years and older (895 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) while the highest incidence rate is recorded among 0-14 year olds (1,841 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 (33.0%) remains the most frequent source followed by education (13.0%), leisure (7.0%), work (5.2%) and travel abroad (4.7%). The rate of contaminations for which the source is not clearly attributable decreased to 26.2%.

Vaccinations update

For the week of 14 to 20 March 2022, a total of 2,310 doses were administered. 141 people received a 1st dose, 828 a second, 1,094 people received a first additional dose and 247 people received a second additional dose compared to a full schedule, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 22 March 2022 to 1,273,008.

471,423 people have a complete vaccination schedule, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 78.4% compared to the vaccinable population (therefore the 5 years or older population).