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 21 to 27 March 2022.

During this period, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 increased from 7,779 to 9,550 cases (up 23%).

Among the 9,550 new infections, the incidence rate is 1,407.7 per 100,000 unvaccinated people and 1,541.2 per 100,000 people with a full vaccination schedule.

The number of PCR tests carried out increased from 20,255 the week before to 24,603 last week.

95 people reported a positive rapid antigenic test for the reference week (up from 75 for the week before), bringing the total number of positive results from such tests performed by a healthcare professional to a total of 2,392. Note that positive rapid antigen tests are not taken into account in calculating the positivity rate.

As of 27 March 2022, the number of active infections stood at 17,502 (up from 13,945 as of 20 March 2022) and the number of people having recovered from the virus increased from 186,769 to 192,745. The average age of people diagnosed with COVID-19 is 35.6 years old.

Seventeen new COVID-19-related deaths were reported last week. The average age of those who died is 78 years old.

In hospitals, the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients in normal care decreased from 36 to 32 over one week. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care increased from three to four. The average age of hospitalised patients was 55.

Among the 32 hospitalised patients, seventeen in normal care were not vaccinated against fifteen patients who had a complete vaccination schedule, while three out of four patients in intensive care were not vaccinated.

Positivity rate & incidence rate

For the reference period, the effective reproduction rate (RT eff) was up 1.18 compared to 1.12 the previous week, while the positivity rate on all the tests carried out (prescriptions, contact tracing) increased from 38.46% to 38.82%.

The incidence rate increased to 1,505 cases per 100,000 inhabitants over 7 days, compared to 1,226 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 (966 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) while the highest incidence rate is recorded among 0-14 year olds (2,525 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 (22.0%), work (4.9%), leisure (4.7%) and travel abroad (3.4%). The rate of contaminations for which the source is not clearly attributable decreased to 25.8%.

Vaccinations update

For the week of 21 to 27 March 2022, a total of 1,776 doses were administered. 145 people received a 1st dose, 476 a second, 937 people received a first additional dose and 218 people received a second additional dose compared to a full schedule, bringing the total number of vaccines administered as of 29 March 2022 to 1,274,609.

471,914 people have a complete vaccination schedule, which corresponds to a vaccination rate of 78.5% compared to the vaccinable population (therefore the 5 years or older population).